I Will Not Bow
by sydman24
Summary: How would the movie have changed if Michael had found something else in the diner in Paradise Falls aside from Charlie and her baby. Covers the movie and farther. Michael/OC hints of Gabriel/Michael. Swearing and possible sex later on not sure yet.
1. Now the dark begins to rise

**I Will Not Bow **

**Authors note:** song belongs to Breaking Benjamin, all chapter titles will belong to them as well. This story is an insert an OC into movie then follow up with a squeal type of thing. I went to see Legion for Paul Bettany, I left thinking of the fact that I went and saw it was Bettany and was happy. This was defiantly not the greatest movie I have ever seen but it was goodish. On that note let's begin.

**Disclaimer: ** I do not own Legion, because if I did the movie would have been longer, with more Paul Bettany and a lot more of him shirtless and the Gabriel/Michael paring would have been more pronounced then hidden in the shadows. 

"Now the dark begins to rise"

The main diner in Paradise Falls was empty. Bob messed with his old television, attempting to get better reception of the one channel he got. Percy flipped pancakes with his right hand while slowly tapping his hook that made up his left on the counter. Jeep, Bob's son, was asleep at one of the booths a cowboy hat on his head, the brim pulled down to cover his eyes.

Aside from the rhythmic tapping and the occasional bang and swear word from Bob, the diner was silent. Paradise Falls was always empty outside of the rag-tag group. But then again the town only consisted of two run down trailers, located behind the diner, the diner itself which doubled as a gas station, and a small car garage. The only other thing in the area was the main road and sand.

Bob stepped down from the table and threw his arms up in the air in happiness. "There," he said turning to look at the other two occupants. "Fixed it."

Just as he said that, though, Charlie walked into the diner slamming the door against the wall with such force that it caused the TV to lose its reception all over again.

"Damn it Charlie, I just got the damned thing working again." Bob swore as he climbed back up onto the table to play with the thing again. Charlie ignored Bob as she walked over to Jeep.

"Hey wake up!" she ordered. The 19 year old continued sleeping. Growling she smacked his bent knee to wake him. Jeep sat up and in his scramble to remain balanced on the booth bench hi cracked his elbow on the table. His face tightened in pain as h glared up at Charlie.

"What? Is someone here who needs their car fixed?" Jeep asked. See that was Jeep's job around the place. He was a mechanic of sorts and only got business when someone's car broke down in the middle of the desert. For that reason Jeep had had little experience with fixing cars so the repairs took him some time. And of course during this time the stranded family would find itself enjoying a good meal in the comfort of Gas N' Grub. It was a well thought out plan that had happened by accident.

Charlie glared at Jeep. At times she wondered how she could put up with someone who was so stupid at times. "No! I need to borrow your car to go to town. "Jeep turned on the booth so he was sitting facing the table. He glared down at his folded hands and considered actually giving Charlie the keys.

"Why?" He asked cocking his head to the side and looking up at Charlie. He hated it when she went off like this. He was always afraid that she was going out with some guy.

"Because Jason wanted me to meet him so we could go to the movies." Charlie said. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet in excitement. Which could only mean one of two things; one she wasn't really going to the movies with Jason, or two she was going to the movies with someone other than Jason. Jeep went to tell her no but he looked at her smiling face and his resolve crumbled.

"Alright." He sighed and dug into his pocket to pull out his car keys. He threw them to her hand she jumped up and down in happiness.

"Thank you, Jeep." And with that she ran out of the Gas N' Grub diner. He watched her through the window. When she got into the car and drove away, Jeep slammed his head into the table.

"You can get brain damage that was son." Percy commented, his eyes never leaving the pancakes but his old military instincts told him everything that was going on in the room.

With his head still pressed to the table Jeep replied, "I just wish sometimes that she would stop going out with boys like Jason or Alex or Steve or Topher or…."

"We get the point, Jeep." Bob yelled over his shoulder. He hit the TV one last time then stepped down from the table. He looked at the still fuzzy screen. It was as good as he was going to get for the day.

"It's just…I wish she would stop looking for what she wants in other guys. " Jeep said his figure slumped on the table and his voice quiet and soft.

"Would you prefer she was into women?" Percy asked laughing.

Jeep smiled. "You know what I mean."

Bob laughed. "Yes we do and we…" he trailed off watching something in the distance.

"What is it?" Jeep got up to stand by his father. Both of them looked out the glass door as a figure slowly made its way through the desert. "Percy, get the first aid kit!"

The two of them ran from the building out into the hot air of the Mojave Desert towards the figure that was about to collapse. Jeep reached them first and he slid to a halt in front of a young girl who looked like she had been through hell. She had long brown hair that was partially in a long braid that ran down to the bottom of her shoulder blades. Her skin was covered in sand and grit from the harsh desert winds and her clothing was torn as if she had pulled herself from a car crash.

"Jesus Christ!" Bob swore as he got his first look at the girl cradled in his son's arms. Percy had the first aid kit ready and open and had cleared of the bar for the girl to be placed on. "What the hell happened to her?"

Her face was covered in cuts and scrapes. A large gash ran down the side of her face to her shoulder. As soon as she was set down, Percy began to remove the tattered and torn black sweatshirt she had on to get a better look at the cuts that marred her arms.

"She looks pretty beet up." Percy said slowly running a wet rag over her arms and face to wipe away the dirt and blood. Just as he passed over a particularly bad gash on her shoulder she sat up and tried to shuffle away from the three men surrounding her. "No, no it's okay. We're not going to hurt you."

The girl looked at the men terrified, her brown eyes widened as a pain raced through her side when it was disturbed by her movements. She looked around the room and realized that she was in a diner. She cocked her head to the side questioningly, but didn't say anything.

"Are you okay?" Jeep asked.

Bob glared in his son's direction. "Does it look like she's okay? Cuz it looks like she's been through hell to me."

The girl nodded vigorously. Everyone in the room stared at her.

"Is that yes your okay or yes you've been through hell?"

She nodded.

Bob paused a second to ponder why she wasn't openly answering him. "Are you mute?"

She cocked her head to the side.

"Can you talk?"

Her eyes widened in understanding, and then she nodded her head no.

"What's your name?" Percy asked. His tone was quiet as to not scare her. She mimed a person writing on paper. Jeep reached over the counter for one of the pads of paper and pencils stashed there. He handed it to her. She quickly started scribbling on the paper.

'My name is Faith. I don't really know how I got here or where here is. I'm 15 year old. I don't know where to go. Please help me.'

Bob read the paper first then passed it to Jeep who passed it to Percy. When all three had read it Bob spoke up. "You can stay, as long as you pull your weight."

Faith smiled and wrote on the paper again. 'Thank you.'

**Authors note 2: **Please review. Not to sound pushy but I really only plan on continuing posting this as long as I know someone out there is reading it. And I love feedback.


	2. Watch the end through dying eyes

**I Will Not Bow **

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Legion nor do I own Breaking Benjamin's song.

Three years later:

Bam, Bam, Bam.

Faith jumped as Bob took several more whacks at the TV. She gave a mute sigh as she watched the movie past Bob's arm. It was "It's a Wonderful Life." And it was also her favorite part. The discussion of how an Angel gets its wings.

"Lord as my witness, Bob, one of these days that thing is going to hit you back." Percy commented to her left. Her shoulders trembled as she laughed. Percy glanced over at her, a smile attempting to split his face in half. She flipped one of the burgers she was helping Percy cook for the family who were presently their only customers.

"Whaddya talkin' about, Percy? We got a special relationship here." Bob hit the TV again. Faith looked up at Bob. It had been three years since she had been found wondering the Mojave Desert. She had been working the grill and waiting tables. The few customers they got understood her speech impediment or lack thereof and didn't question her note pad anymore.

"Excuse me, Miss." Faith looked up. The mother of the family who was stuck here until Jeep fixed the car motioned for her to come over. Faith smiled when she reached the table. "Would you be able to find out how long until our car is fixed.

Faith nodded and walked over to Bob. She tapped his arm lightly to get his attention. Bob turned, his focus switching from the TV to Faith. He smiled down at her from the chair he was standing on. He found it oddly strange how he could come to think of her as his daughter in the short time of three years when he still only thought of Charlie as just a waitress.

He watched as she mimed going to check on Jeep. He smiled and nodded that it was okay with him. Faith ran out the door. She was about to head out back when Charlie came around the corner followed by a tall, possible twenty year old man. Faith smiled and waved at them. The man smiled back and Charlie glared at her. The two had never gotten along.

She watched them go into the diner and raced back to the garage that Jeep was hiding out in. She knocked on the door to the Garage to get his attention.

"Oh hey, Faith, something wrong?" Jeep asked. He scrambled to hide what it was he had been working on. Faith cocked her head to the side as she walked up to Jeep. She stood up on her tip-toes to see over his shoulder. Sitting on the table was an old baby crib. It was covered in dust and dirt. She looked from Jeep to the crib with a eyebrow raised in question.

"It's for Charlie." Jeep said. He watched as Faith pulled out one of her pads of paper from her apron.

'I thought she wasn't going to keep the baby?'

"Well I'm… I'm trying to get her to keep it."

Faith glared at Jeep. And her expression seemed to shout at him. Before she could begin writing he stopped her.

"Faith, please don't tell me not to try to take the weight of the world on my shoulders. "

Faith made a jester that shouted, 'Then why the Hell are you trying.'

"I just feel I have to." Jeep said sighing. Faith nodded in understanding and walked over to the car. She glanced down at the Anderson's car. She traced several of the wires down to the computer and found a disconnection. She snapped her fingers to get Jeep's attention. Said man turned around and looked at Faith. She was pointing and motioning to the wire and Jeep swore when he saw it. He threw the rag he had been cleaning the crib with and walked out of the garage. Faith followed behind him.

Jeep stopped to look at the new car that was parked in front of the diner. It wasn't new in the since that it had come out this year but new as in never been seen here before. It was a Cutlass Supreme and was beet to hell. But Faith's attention wasn't on the car it was on the dark clouds that seemed to be quickly approaching. Jeep noticed her attention was else were.

"Something wrong?" he asked.

'Rain?' Faith wrote. She was confused as there were never clouds like that in the area before. She walked into the diner and over to the Andersons. 'Your car is almost done. We just need to call a more local mechanic to get a hold of some wires to replace.'

"Yeah, but it's gonna burn." An old woman who Faith just noticed said. She was calm and creepy, eating rare steak that was still dripping blood and had files circling it.

"What did you just say?" Charlie asked astonished.

"I said your Fucking baby's gonna burn." She was smiling when she said that.

"Go to hell lady." Charlie slapped the bill down on the table and ran for the back of the diner. Faith followed, feeling bad for the poor girl. She didn't need this shit in her life. Not at a time like this.

Faith heard Sandra talking to the old woman. It was to quiet for Faith to hear but the reply from the woman echoed through the diner.

"Shut up you stupid fucking cunt. All you do is complain, complain, complain." The old woman's voice almost seemed demonic in its tone. Faith made her way back to the main part of the diner slowly and poked her head out.

Her husband was on his feet in seconds.

"No Howard, don't." Sandra ordered.

Howard continued on ignoring his wife. "Who the hell do you think you are lady? I want an apology…" But his statement was cut off by the woman. She had jumped to her feet and had bit Howard's neck and had torn a large chunk of skin off. Howard crumpled to the ground quickly bleeding out.

"Your all gonna fucking die!" she yelled. Faith's eyes widened. She was as shocked as everyone else in the room. Percy reacted first and threw a frying pan at her. The force of it connecting with her head broke her neck, yet she was still standing. She let out a scream and jumped for the window. She climbed the wall as if she was a spider.

Faith watches in fright. Bob pulled a shot gun out from under the counter. He fired several shots at the woman who dropped to the ground in front of her. She slapped him across the room and the gun landed at Jeep's feet. He picked the gun up and stared at the approaching woman.

"Shot her Jeep." Percy yelled.

Jeep hesitated.

"Shot the bitch." Percy again.

Gun shots rang out. But Percy hadn't fired. Three shells hit the ground. Two belonged to one and the third belonged to another.

Kyle, the man who Faith had almost run into, was holding a sliver plated Western arm .45. He had fired twice. The third had come from the second shot gun that was stored under the counter. Faith had fired it.

"Someone help me!" Sandra yelled. Kyle raced over to Howard and helped instruct Sandra as to what to do. Before long they had him outside and loaded into Kyle's car to get him to the hospital. When the Andersons, Percy and Kyle were gone, Faith finally regained the ability to move. She dropped the gun and ran for the bath room to throw up.

After emptying her stomach she slumped against the wall outside of the room. She was vaguely aware of Jeep and Bob walking past. Bob was carrying a beer which he was holding to his head and she could hear Jeep throwing up as well.

Faintly she could hear Bob talking to Jeep as she fully regained use of her motor functions. She slowly made her way to the front and her mind raced as she saw the car pull back into the parking lot. Everyone inside raced to the diner and at the sound of the door opening Bob and Jeep came out.

Jeep and Charlie were helping to get Howard out of the car at Sandra and Audrey's orders. Percy ran past and almost hit Bob.

"Where are you going?" Bob asked him.

"To get my bible. Someone has to start praying." Percy said as he ran inside. Faith herd a faint buzzing and thought it was just her imagination until she turned and saw the curtain that was descending the diner. The rest of them ran inside.

All were silent when the bugs were around. Faith helped Percy as he attempted to bandage the wound. During that time it was decided that it would be a good idea for them to take Gladys outside. So Jeep and Bob rewrapped her in the table cloth and raced her outside.

"Where'd all the bugs go?" Jeep asked as he lifted the body.

"Doesn't matter, Christ she's heavy. Jeep pick up your end!" Bob yelled at his son. They dropped the body over by the dumpster. They were heading back inside when Faith started motioning for them to look.

"Something wrong with your daughter?" Kyle asked watching her. Bob looked up and watched the road.

"Now we're talkin'." Bob said watching the police car drive down the road.

"Dad wait, LAPD. What's an LA cop doing here?" Jeep asked. His reasoning was good and unsettling.


	3. Light the fuze and burn it all

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Legion or B.B. Cuz trust me if I did Michael and Gabriel would be all mine.

**Authors Note: **So after posting my last chapter yesterday I remembered that I forgot to thank my reviewers *Facepalm*. I am so sorry about that. So in an attempt to make up for it Thank You!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your reviews keep me going and let me know that I'm not the only one who finds what is going on in my messed up mind fascinating and entertaining.

Faith, Bob, Kyle and Jeep all watched the cop car slowly approach. Charlie began to come out of the diner, probably happy to see a cop.

"No, Charlie, go back inside!" Bob yelled over to Charlie. He tapped faith on the shoulder to get her attention. "You too,"

She shook her head no. Stomping her feet to emphasize her point that she was staying where she was. Charlie listened though. The car pulled into the parking lot and a man got out. Faith stepped back, all of her courage vanished as she got her first look at the new visitor. He was tall, probably six three. He had blond/brown hair but it was shaved so close to his scalp that she could very well have been wrong. Bright blue eyes surveyed the group as she shut the car door. He began to walk towards the group. Bob and Jeep formed a barrier between the door and the man.

Bob cocked the gun, "Take one more step and I'll drop you right there."

"Is that how you great all your customers?" the man asked looking at Bob much like a cat looks at a mouse. His gaze drifted from Bob to Charlie who had reemerged from the diner. Faith took a cautionary step back, as she was the closest to his present location, and drew his attention. All movement Faith had contemplated stopped. It seemed like even her heart froze under his icy blue eyes.

"Mister after what we've been through you're lucky I just don't shoot you right there," Bob ordered shacking the gun to bring the strangers view back over to it and him. "Teeth, now! Let me see um."

The man smiled, though the smile he gave was more like a dangerous snarl, it was apparent that he didn't have the shark teeth of the old lady.

"No shark teeth pop," Jeep commented, as if his father couldn't see that for himself. Faith sighed, she was happy that this guy checked out as okay. Something about him was making Faith feel safe.

"Alright… Suppose you told us your name?" Bob asked.

"Michael," the man, Michael, replied. His voice was flat.

"Sorry about that, Michael. You see we had this old lady go crazy in our place not long ago. And she had these teeth." Bob explained as he slowly lowered his gun. Faith slowly backed over to Bob. "So what'cha doing out here? I mean you don't look like a cop. Not even one from LA. But yah gotta be, I mean, who would be stupid enough to steal a cop car?"

At that Michael cocked his head to the side, almost as if what Bob had just said made absolutely no since at all. "You don't know, do you?"

"Don't know what?" Kyle asked.

Charlie ran past Jeep towards Michael. "We don't know anything nothing works. The powers out, radios down, we don't even have a phone."

"We're running out of time," Michael said. He started towards Charlie. But Bob begin, Bob intervenes.

"Now hold on there. I don't care what you think is happening or about to happen but I suggest you get back in that car and drive yourself back to where ever the hell it is you came from." Bob stated. He was once again pointing the gun at Michael. Catching Bob off guard, Michael grabbed the gun and pointed it at Bob. Bob's eyes snapped shut, waiting for the man to pull the trigger and end his life.

"Wait, wait!" Percy yelled running out of the diner towards Michael. "Now son, I don't think you really want to be goin' and doin' that. Especially not in front of all these good people. Now why don't you just put the gun down?" The sound of tires screeching on grave reached the groups ears.

Michael turned and saw the headlights of a line of cars about two miles down the road. "They're here." He removed the gun from Bob's head and pressed it into his arms. "You're going to need this."

Michael walked back to the cop car and opened the trunk. Faith ran over to Bob and looked at his forehead.

"I'm fine," he grumbled. Faith shot him a look that Bob knew was not one to argue with. It was the look that made him wonder at times which of the two was the kid and which was the grown adult. He smiled and looked up from Faith. His face dropped as he watched Michael pull two duffle bags and a collection of guns from the trunk.

Michael began to pass guns out. All of them are MP5 sub-machine guns. One goes to Kyle, Percy, Jeep and Faith.

"Now hold on a second," Bob says after Michael gives Faith and Jeep a gun. "I don't think that's such a good idea. Their just kids and all."

"Dad I can handle it," Jeep protested as his father attempted to degrade him in front of not only a stranger but Charlie. Faith nodded from behind Jeep. It told Bob that she believed she could handle it too.

Michael bit back a smile that fought to build up in his system. "They can handle it," he said brushing past Bob to the diner. "They don't have a choice."

Faith gulped at the thought. Maybe it would have been best if she hadn't tried to look tough for this man. Once they were all inside the building the order was given. The place had to be barricaded off by nightfall. Or there would be hell to pay.

Charlie, Kyle, Sandra and Audrey blockaded off the front of the store, while Jeep, Faith, Bob and Percy covered the entrances in the back. The blinds were pulled in the windows and when night had risen all the ways in were protected as best as possible in such short a time.

When everyone was assembled in the main diner awaiting Michaels next order the lights went out. Three gun flashlights clicked on, all were pointed at Michael's face.

"Now what?" An irritated Kyle asked. No one else present knew it but he was afraid of the dark. Michael's attention, though, was not on Kyle but focused on the ceiling. Faith's eyes widened in understanding. He wanted them on the roof.

Before anything could be said she raced for the ladder that allowed access to the roof top. She climbed up and perched herself in the "D" of Paradise Falls. Not long after Michael emerged from the building followed shortly by Kyle and Percy. The cars from earlier were gone and know the road is silent.

"Alright, Rambo, you brought us up here now what?" Bob asked. He was pissed that the cars were gone and that he was listening to this strange man. Michael what the hell type of name was that. Now if he had given a name like Michael Davidson or Smith or something, he would find it less hard to trust this man. But just Michael.

"Shhh, listen."Percy commanded. The group quieted and the sound of an ice cream truck reached their ears. Faith got down from the once glowing neon letters and approached the side of the roof.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Bob ordered grabbing her by her arm and dragging her back towards the hatch. "Get back inside."

Faith shook her head no. She walked over to the other side of Michael.

"Can you even fire that?" he motioned to the gun. She smiled and nodded tapped her chest twice. She then held up two fingers. She pointed at her forehead, and then held up 1 finger.

"Two to the chest one to the head." Percy commented watching her actions. Michael nodded understanding the military shots she was referencing.

"Alright, there's a safety switch on the side of your gun. Push it all the way down two clicks." Michael ordered. Everyone hit the afore mentioned switch. "Now when this starts hold on tight, because if you don't you'll blow your hand off."

"What you looking at me for?" Percy asked, watching the group stare at him. All but Faith who was fighting back her silent laughter.

"Look," Kyle ordered. The song was getting louder and the beams from the headlights could be seen now. Bob moved back to his former position and now they were all in a strange line. It was Percy, Faith, Michael, Kyle then Bob, all eyes watching the truck slowly approaching expecting the worst.

The truck pulled into the lot just as fast as Michael had earlier. When the truck stopped the lights went out.

"Get ready." Michael called quietly. The man inside slowly crawled out of the truck. It was tall and extremely skinny. He started walking around and sniffing, as if trying to smell them out.

"Oh he's not that bad." Kyle commented. He was soon regretting those words as the ice cream man turned to look at him. "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit."

The ice cream man grew his arms out and ran for the roof.

"Shoot him!" Michael ordered.

He fired. The demon dropped to the ground dead. It was over, or so it seemed. A flood of cars and people was approaching the diner.

"Shoot them; don't let them get to the windows." Michael yelled out over roar of his gun. The opened fire on the crowd. But their shooting wasn't fast enough, because not long after they got into the diner.

"Shit."Bob yelled. He ran for the hatch and was the first one down to help Charlie. The rest followed soon after but it was Michael who took the first shot.

"I told you not to do anything brave!" He growled at Charlie.

She glared at Michael, "What made you assume I would listen to you?" She brushed past him.

Sandra tried to dash for the door. Michael stopped her before she could get to it.

"No let me go… He's alive," She yelled fighting against him.

"No," He replied calmly. "Not anymore he's not."

Sandra crumpled to the ground when Michael released her. Faith shivered as she sat down in one of the chairs.

"Are you okay?" Michael asked her. She looked up at him and nodded.

"You..." Michael started but Kyle cut him off.

"We got'em running." Kyle yelled as he came running into the room.


	4. Save your breath, It's far from over

**Authors Note: **Own nothing and no one but Faith. Love the reviews. Thank you to all of you, you're the reason I keep writing. Sorry that this story might be dragging along but I need to get through the really dull parts of the movie. And if I skip over your favorite parts just tell me and I'll try to work it in elsewhere. Sorry about the long delay, Scheduled for work more times than normal.

"We got'em running!" Kyle exclaimed again. He was running and jumping around. His happiness diminished though when he saw the expression on every ones faces. "Who died?"

Sandra cried out in anguish at the thought of her husband's death. Kyle shrank into himself at the idea of the pain he had just unintentionally caused.

"Someone needs to be on the roof." Michael said calmly looking at the group huddled around him. His gaze landed on Kyle, expectantly.

"I'll go," Kyle said catching his drift.

Bob grabbed hold of Kyle's arm, effectively stopping his escape. "Hold on!" he ordered. "You…" he pointed at Michael. "Better start talkin'. "

Michael sighed on the inside. He knew this would come, and it was no surprise that it was Bob who was demanding answers of him. "The last time God lost faith in mankind he sent a flood. This time he sent those creatures you see out there."

"So… are you trying to say this is the apocalypse?" Percy asked. He was confused and frankly this Michael was starting to creep him out. God wouldn't do this to his creations.

Michael stared down at the table he was bracing himself on. "I'm saying this is an extermination…" he glanced up at Percy. "Those things out there are vessels, possessed. The weakest willed are the easiest to turn."

Silence filled the room. Everyone was thinking the sound of their thoughts, or lack thereof, flooded the room. Faith glanced around the room, her heart was beating faster than normal and it wasn't only because of what Michael was telling her. She was also still coming down from an adrenalin rush from what had happened on the roof. Bob was the first to recover his voice and organize his thoughts.

"So are you say… that those things are possessed, by demons or something?" Bob asked. He was afraid of the answer but he needed to know what they were up against.

"No… not demons," Michael said. His voice was as even as ever but how he was approaching the subject spoke volumes about his fear of the topic. "…but angels."

Bob chocked back a laugh. Percy glared over at his coworker. He slowly pulled out his little black bible. It was worn and well read with the pages slightly yellowed by age and several dog eared to mark certain passages. "I don't know what book you've been reading son. But in mine… the angels are the good guys. "

Percy smiled in triumph at proving Michael wrong. Faith quickly wrote down a comment as well and showed it to Percy, who then added, "like guardian angels."

Michael shut his eyes in pain. When he opened them again they swam with unshed tears. "I'm afraid that is where your book is wrong." He sighed for the first time aloud. "The truth is nowhere near that simple."

Percy's smile faded and Faith inhaled sharply. They weren't expecting that.

"Wait… how do you know so much about all this?" Audrey asked. Bob jumped at the sound of her voice. Her and her mother had been so quiet these past few minutes that he had forgotten they were even in the room still. "You're not one of those wack-jobs who thought the world was going to end in 2000 right?"

"Because until last night I was one of them," Michael answered he first question, completely ignoring the second.

Jeep's jaw dropped you mean you're…?" he couldn't bring himself to finish the question.

'…The archangel Michael?' Faith finished it for him.

Michael sighed. "Not anymore I'm not."

"Oh right, and yesterday I was fuckin' Santa Clause. Fuck this shit, I don't even believe in God." Bob yelled he threw his arms up into the air and made to leave the room.

Michael sent a half smile in his direction. "That's fine Bob. Father doesn't believe in you either. "

Bob stopped. His hand was on the doorknob when Michael said that. He turned around and glared at the supposed angel. His temper ad reached breaking point. "Now you listen here, I want you the FUCK out of my diner now!"

The room fell into silence. Bob moved several steps closer. Faith stepped in front of him and held up her pad of paper.

"No I will not calm down!" he yelled at her. Faith shied back a step and looked at Bob. "You, out now!"

Faith's hands balled up into fists at Bob's blatant disregard of anything she had said. She wrote quickly and shoved the paper in his face again. This time making sure she was standing directly between him and Michael.

Bob sighed. He began talking slowly to avoid yelling at Faith again. "What gives me the right to decide weather he stays or goes is the fact that I own this place."

Faith backed up as he said this and tore out the piece of paper she was writing on. She slammed it down onto the table and everyone slowly edged closer to it to read what it said.

'VOTE all in favor of Michael staying raise your hand' Faith, Percy, Jeep, Charlie and Audrey all had a hand in the air. Sandra, Kyle and Bob kept their hands down. 'Four to three HE STAYS'

With that Faith stormed out of the room making sure to smash her shoulder into Bobs. She slammed the door shut and the room was silent. Bob sighed. He knew she was pissed now. Never did she come in contact with anyone unless it was to convey a certain emotion. And in the three years that she had been here only twice had she hit Bob with that much force.

"But how do we know he didn't bring those things with him?" bob asked. He was down hearted and all of the previous thunder from his voice had vanished.

"Oh that makes sense Bob. Bring them here and then save us from him." Charlie said sarcastically. "What the hell are you thinking?"

Audrey looked up from the floor. Her eyes were alight with hope spawned from Charlie's last statement. "So are you here to save us?" She asked hesitantly.

"Not you… her," Michael pointed at Charlie.

"Me!? Why me?" Charlie asked. She took several steps back in shock.

"Because your child is going to save all of mankind," Michael stated.

"Jesus Christ…."

"Exactly."

"That's not what I meant…"

"Are you saying she's the mother of the messiah?" Jeep asked in shock. He was thankful that Faith wasn't here. He knew she would be making some comment about the Virgin Mary not being a Virgin.

"Wait a minute isn't Mary supposed to be a Vir-"Bob started. Scratch that if Faith wasn't here his father would graciously pick up the slack.

"Fuck you Bob!" Charlie yelled .

"Makes you wonder about Mary. "Percy commented. He was down hearted. He felt like his faith was being trampled and slowly torn to shreds, picked apart by those creatures outside.

"Look this isn't possible! I'm just a waitress! I'm a nobody! I can't give birth to the savior of mankind! I don't even own a car," Charlie was grasping at straws trying to reject what Michael was saying.

Michael sighed. Denial was one of the few things he had come to dislike about humans. "None of that matters anymore. Either your baby lives or mankind dies. "

"What is this, the fucking Terminator or something? Is she supposed to give birth to John fuckin Connor!" Kyle yelled. "What are we supposed to do? Sit here until she gives birth to him?"

"That's the plan."

"Just fucking great."

"That can't be… I'm only eight months pregnant." Charlie said in shock.

"How are we going to survive here for a month?" Sandra spoke up for the first time all night.

"We won't have to," Michael glanced over at Sandra. Charlie's face paled.

"It's coming soon isn't it?" she asked afraid to hear the answer. Michael nodded, and for a moment looked as if he was suffering the same pain Charlie was. The moment ended and he rearmed the gun in his hand.

"If you want to live you'll do what I say. This first attack was to test out strength; the next one will be our weakness. Something much worse is coming trust me."

The room fell silent.

"What do we need to do?" Bob asked from his corner of the room.

**Authors note 2: **Once again sorry this took so long to get up here. Hope you enjoyed. Please review.


	5. Now the dark is taking over

**Authors note**: back on track on once a day posting and after marking off title names vs story line I have found that there will be a total of 16 chapters to this (unless at the end of the sequel to the movie I find another muse). Just thought I'd put that out there for people. So I own nothing but Faith. Thank you for the reviews/alerting/favorite-ing/ reading I hope you all continue to enjoy and your opinions are taken to heart and much appreciated.

"Now the dark is taking over"

Michael had given them orders. Two people on the roof at all times, alert and keeping watch. Bob stood behind the counter grilling up several steaks. He had a beer on the table top next to him and a cigarette in his left hand. He took a drag off it and slowly released the smoke out into the room. "Fuck it," he murmured to himself. He flipped the steak then glanced at his watch. He smiled, happily he had a few more hours until his shift, but he wasn't looking forward to having to be up there with Michael.

Bob turned slightly to look around the room. Audrey was sitting with Percy's old radio, trying to find a station that had reception; Jeep was carrying out a plywood board to cover the windows with, while Faith began to nail them in. Seconds after Jeep disappeared into the back room, Michael walked out carrying a board. They had been at this constant cycle for hours, and it was giving Bob a migraine. He grabbed the beer and chugged half of it.

The sniffling sounds of Sandra's ragged breathing reached his ears. Bob laughed to himself, how he had forgotten she was sitting not four feet from him was beyond him. His years away from the military must have dulled his senses. She was still crying over her husband but she was sitting so still it was as if she was attempting to kill herself by not moving.

Bob reached under the counter and brought out one of the beers stored there. He set it on the table and cracked it open. "On the house," he commented as he passed it over to her. She glance d up at him in shock.

"Oh…thank you," she whispered. She took the napkin she had been using as a tissue and dabbed at the foam coming out of the beer can. Slowly she took a sip and set it back on the table.

"You hungry?" Bob asked her. She shook her head no. " 'S to bad. According to Faith I make a really good steak. And a man's gotta eat some time right? Thankfully they left the gas on."

Sandra smiled up at him. "How is it you met her? Faith I mean," she asked. She had been wondering where the girl had come from and until a little while ago she had assumed that she was his daughter.

"Found her," Bob said after taking another swig from his beer. "She was out wondering the desert three years back. She was all cut up and bruised like she had been in a crash. When we had tried to ask her questions about herself she had no idea what had happened and her voice was gone. It wasn't until a week later that we were able to get her up to a doctor to get her checked out and see if anyone was missing her," he paused and sighed. "Come to find out she had been part of a huge reck not far from Red Rock. There were no survivors to speak of. Outside of her that is. Doctors checked her over found that the smoke and ash that had been kicked up but the fire of the reck had burned her throat, reason she couldn't' talk, and it looked like she had bashed her head hard offa somethin' . Without anywhere else for her to go we took her in. Me and Percy have been like a father to her, some days Percy more than I. And Jeep's treated her like a sister. "

"Wow," Sandra said quietly she glanced over her shoulder at the girl and watched as she struggled to hold up a board and nail it in at the same time.

Faith fought to balance the board the way she wanted it and hammer in the nail. It wasn't staying and it was starting to piss her off. Mutely growling to herself she shifted the bard back into place to try again. It didn't work and this time the board slipped and almost crashed into her. A hand stopped its decent and Faith slowly turned to see who it was.

Michael stood over her and smiled at her. He placed the board against the wall over the window and braced it there. "Try it now," he said. His breath was hot on the back of her neck as Faith pulled one of the nails from her pocket and began to hammer it into the board. When she had finished had stepped back. He glanced at the board and nodded his approval then smiled at Faith again. Without a word he turned and walked into the back room to get another piece of wood.

Faith followed him. She planned on thanking him and wondered to herself where Jeep was. Normally he would reemerge from the back room when Michael went in and vice versa. The sound of their voices reached her ears as she neared the door.

"What did you do before you came here?" She heard Jeep ask.

"I was a soldier, a General, to his armies," Michael's reply.

"What changed, what made you leave?"

"I was given an order I did not believe in…he lost faith, I hadn't."

"Faith as in…?"

"Interpret it how you wish."

"It only makes sense one way."

"Does it?" There was a pause them Michael spoke again. "Sometimes we must fight that which we fear the most to truly be free."

Their conversation continued but Faith backed away from the door. She began to ponder what it was that Michael meant by "interpret it as you wish." Jeep was right; there was only one way it could mean in that context. God lost faith, as in belief, in man. But how Michael's voice changed in that sentence break, it was as if he was talking about another person all together.

Moments later Michael and Jeep emerged from the back room. Bob looked up from his half eaten steak and sighed. It was time for the next shift already. The two vanished to the roof and Faith yawned to herself. She hadn't slept all night and now it was catching up to her. Sinking to the ground with her back to the counter she fell asleep.

She woke to the sound of banging and yelling what felt like minutes later. Getting up she ran to the back room that served as a makeshift office for Bob. The desk that had been pulled in front of the back door was now moved to the side and Audrey, Sandra and Kyle were all fighting in front of it. Faith ran up to help Kyle pull Sandra away from the door. But her elbow came back and clipped her in the jaw. Faith stumbled back but Kyle had gotten the full swing and was out cold on the floor.

Hearing all the commotion Percy and Bob ran into the room. They were just in time to see Sandra making a mad dash out of the door for her husband. Faith got her first look at what was causing all the commotion. A large cross had been erected sometime over the night and now Howard was tied down to it. He looked like shit. He was all cut up from the glass and the wound on his neck was bleeding again. Not only that but he was coved in pulsing boils that looked like they were going to explode any second.

Percy ran after Sandra and grabbed hold of her half way across the stretch if sand. He turned around just as the boils all popped, spraying everything in puss and blood. Percy caught all of it with his back as they ran back to the door. Howard was dead.

Percy reached the door and leaned against it. Sandra dropped from his arms, crying and yelling. Bob inched forward towards his friend. Percy glanced up at him and dropped to the ground. His back was melted away and Faith almost threw up as she when she saw his spinal cord. He was dead, probably had been when the acid puss first hit him. It was the adrenalin that kept him moving.

The room was plagued in sorrow. Sandra and Aubrey over Howard and the rest of the room for Percy.


	6. Now's your chance to run for cover

**Authors note: **own Faith and changed lines. Thank you for reviews and enjoy.

Now's your chance to run for cover

Bob sat in the dark room with Percy. His hand was resting by his friend's forehead and he was silently crying to himself. Jeep went to enter the room but Faith stopped him. Her eyes were full of unshed tears and she gave him a weak smile. Jeep nodded at her and walked back to the main room. Faith inhaled deeply and walked into the room.

Bob shut his eyes tightly, forcing another tear to fall. A hand rested on his shoulder and he jumped. Seeing it was Faith his tension dropped again. "I'm fine," he said. He fought back the anguished cry he almost let slip while talking.

'Next shift almost time for. Want me to cover it?' Faith showed it to Bob.

"You sure you can handle it?" Bob asked. He didn't want to have her go out there, but he was far too emotionally drained go back out there. Faith nodded then got up from her position next to him.

She walked out of the room and sat down at one of the booths while she waited for Michael to get ready. At present he was tying Sandra down to a chair. She listened to all of the sounds around her and when a voice came over the radio she sat up in her seat.

"... battling has been fierce. The numbers of casualties are unknown but all indications are that they must be unimaginably large. If you're just joining us, we're getting some of the first bits of good news, if you can call it that, since this apocalypse began just twenty-four ago. A human militia has formed on the outskirts of Las Vegas and has begun to engage the enemy. Also down in the Four Corners area, we've been receiving unconfirmed reports of another resistance force gathering in Red Ridge National in the northern Mojave Desert area." The sound of the radio man's voice filled the room as all of them listened.

"Red Ridge," Jeep said. "That can't be more than two miles from here."

"We're not going, we can't risk being on the move when the baby comes," Michael said walking past Charlie. He stopped at the bar and leaned against it, his arms crossed over his chest.

"It's coming soon isn't it?" Charlie asked. Michael nodded; Faith silently laughed and passed a note over to Audrey.

'Well duh, if it's Jesus Christ of course he will be born on Christmas.' Audrey laughed and underlined the Christ in Christmas.

"The next shift is starting. Audrey, Faith and Kyle on the roof." Michael ordered. The three nodded and got up. They filed out onto the roof. Nothing happened for a long time. Kyle and Audrey began talking about her past boyfriends and how to shot the gun.

Faith rolled her eyes and stared out into the distance. She felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around she looked at Audrey.

'something wrong?' she wrote then held it up for her to read.

'just wondering if you thought Kyle was cute at all?' Audrey wrote back.

Faith leaned forward to see Kyle. 'No not him.'

'Michael then?'

Faith blushed and turned away. Audrey laughed and leaned against the wall. They sat in silence for a few seconds then something strange happened. The lights turned on.

"What the hell?" Kyle asked had looked around momentarily blinded by the light. The sound of a car engine caused all of them to turn. A van pulled around the abandoned and shot apart cars. It pulled up to the gas pump and a man got out. From the roof they saw him motion for the kid to stay inside. He ran to the pump and began to fill up the truck.

As soon as he got out though several cars began pulling up.

"No, It's a trap, they seem um coming and they turned the lights on," Kyle yelled. "Hey, hey get back in your car!"

"Get in your car!" Audrey yelled as well. Kyle fired off several shots to get the man's attention. When he saw the cars he ran for his own. The drivers were too fast though and they ran him over sending him flying into the air. "No!"

The possessed people opened the van. The child inside was pulled out. Kyle began to fire on the crowd.

"No, don't you hit the kid," Audrey yelled. Without thinking Kyle ran to the edge of the roof and jumped off. He ran for the crowd and picked up the kid. Holding the child he began to shot his was to the door.

Something was wrong though because he stopped shooting. On the roof Audrey panicked and slid down the slanted roof. She began to fire at the possessed with the gun Kyle had given her. She watched Kyle fall to the ground dead. She ran through the group and stopped in front of the boy who Kyle had gone to save.

"You're gonna die now," the boy said. It was spoken loud enough that Faith heard it from the roof. Audrey shot at him but she was out of bullets, panicking she ran for the van. She huddled into the passenger's side praying for a miracle.

Inside:

"Oh God, Audrey!" Charlie yelled. She ran to the window and looked outside. She turned to Michael. "She's just a girl. If you don't go out and get her I will."

Michael moved to intercept Charlie when Jeep yelled, "Wait, What is she doing?"

All of them gathered around the window and watched what was happening. Faith had jumped down as well.

"God damn it girl are you out of your fuckin' mind?" Bob asked himself not expecting an answer

Faith was not entirely sure what she was doing. She grabbed her gun and the second one that Kyle had brought up for Audrey. She was over the lip of the roof and ran down the slanted edge. She jumped, attempting to cover as much ground as fast as possible, and rolled when she landed so as not to break her legs.

She ran for the van shooting as many of the Angels as possible. She reached the van and broke the glass in the driver's side window. She yanked the door open and motioned for Audrey to get out. She wasn't paying attention she was too busy looking out the back window. Times like this were when she wished she could still speak.

Swallowing Faith did the only thing she could think of. She yelled at the girl. "Audrey, move now!" Audrey turned to look at Faith her eyes wide with shock. Faith stumbled back. She had actually said something, it had actually come out.

"Come on!" she yelled grabbing hold of Audrey's arm. She yanked the girl out of the van and ran back to the building.

"The roof, get on the roof!" Michael yelled. He ran for the roof Jeep and Bob right behind him.

Faith braced her back to the side of the building. She cupped her hands together and readied herself to hoist Audrey back onto the roof. Audrey ran at Faith and prepared herself to scale the building. Faith threw her up into the air. Audrey scrambled for a hand hold but couldn't find one and as gravity began to take over she fell again.

Michael grabbed her and hoisted her up onto the roof. Faith looked up at him. She paused long enough to shoot down the closest angels. She ran out towards the pumps to get a running start. She turned and ran up the side of the building. She grabbed at the window sills and pulled herself up to the slant part of the roof. Michael grabbed her hand and pulled her up as well.

"Are you okay, Audrey?" Faith asked, she was breathing heavy and her voice was scratchy from years of not being used. Everyone on the roof turned to look at her in shock when she spoke. Audrey nodded. This was defiantly going to take some explaining.

**Authors Note 2: **So our chapter ends with Faith being able to talk. I didn't even see that one coming till I started writing this chapter. Sorry for stealing Michael's thunder with rescuing Audrey from the evil possessed angels/people. And the child attack inside not happening because it creeps me the fuck out. For the next chapter there will be a greater time gap between this and Gabriel popping up for obvious reasons. Thank you for reading and please review. –Sydman24


	7. Leave the lost and dead behind

**Authors note**: sorry about the long gaps between updates over the weekend put work kind of takes over my time then. Own nothing but Faith. And this chapter is extending time in the movie. Thanks for reviews. Hope you enjoy.

"Leave the lost and dead behind"

Faith sat in one of the chairs from the tables in the center of the main room. She sighed and twiddled her thumbs looking at her feet. She slowly glanced up at Bob. She hoped, beyond hope that Bob at least would have some sympathy for her. His eyes showed that he was praying that what she had said earlier was all just part of his imagination. Faith dropped eye contact and tried to crawl into herself.

"Faith?" Jeep asked. She jumped and stared up at him. He sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Are you okay? Are we making her envious?"

"I…" she paused. Slowly she reached into her pocket and pulled out her pad and paper. She began writing but she continued speaking as well. "I'm fine, just a little shocked over what happened."

"Here," Charlie passed Faith a glass of water. Her eyes were alight and comforting. Faith was taken aback as took the glass from her. Never before this night had Charlie gone out of her way to help her. Now when she was able to talk again it seemed that she was being helpful. Faith drank some of the water and the room seemed to lose interest in the fact that she could talk again.

"So was it just the adrenaline or have you been able to talk for a while now?" Bob asked. He was trying not to sound accusing in his statement. He ran a hand over the back of his head.

"I don't know," Faith whispered quietly.

"It doesn't matter," Michael said as he walked by the group. He glanced at Faith, giving her a shallow smile, and made his way to the roof.

"What ya suppose is wrong with him?" Bob asked watching Michael. Faith stood and followed him seeing it as an escape from all of the people staring at her like she was an anomaly or something. When she got to the roof she breathed in deeply and shut her eyes. Her mind flashed images of the sky at sunset, with clouds so perfect that they looked like light and fluffy pillows that she could dive onto. But the clouds seemed to close, and she was looking down on them.

"You should go back inside," Michaels voice broke her thought process and she blinked several times to clear her mind. Faith walked over to the fallen archangel. He was bent over and gripping the side of the roof tightly. His eyes were fixated on the horizon, as if anticipating the enemy's next attack.

"Is something wrong Mike?" Faith asked. He shivered and clenched up when she called him that. Fearing she had hurt him in some way she placed a hand on his right shoulder. He pulled away upon contact. Faith let her hand fall to her side and dropped her gaze to the tiled roof, dejected.

"You don't remember do you?" Michael asked her, after seeing the pain she appeared to be in. Faith looked up at him, lost. He shut his eyes and pain ran through his whole being. He grimaced and looked away. "He took everything from you because on me didn't he?"

"No one has taken anything from me. And I highly doubt that if anyone had it wasn't because of you. Hell, Mike, I didn't even know you existed before two days ago," Faith said she was writing as she spoke. He shivered again when she said Mike but he recovered a lot faster this time. He glanced at the paper and saw the statement she had just said written on the page.

"That's a hard habit to break isn't it?" Michael asked. He watched as Faith's attention dropped from him down to her hand and what she had written.

"Yeah it is. Been three years that I've had to do it to communicate. It's almost like my mind is still afraid that my voice will just go away again," Faith said. She found herself backing up to the L in Falls and sat down. Michael walked over and sat next to her on the other one.

"It must have been Hell for you not to be able to talk. You always did seem to talk too much," Michael said. He laughed to himself for a few seconds when he said the last part.

"See there you go again, acting like you know me from some distant past. But that's impossible seeing as I've never met you prior to all of this. And besides, Mike…" he shivered, "Michael, then sorry, If you had known me from before you would have realized that I don't really talk all that much,"

"It was all just a part of his plan."

"Of whose plan! You keep talking about all these schemes and plans, It just doesn't make any sense. I mean yesterday when you and Jeep were talking you brought up God losing faith in mankind and made it sound like there was a double meaning but it only makes sense that way. What are you talking about? Explain it to me."

"You wouldn't understand."

"Try!"

"You haven't changed over all these years. You're as stubborn as always."

"OH MY GOD!!!!!!!! What the fuck are you fucking going on about? I don't fucking know you. And you sure as shit don't fucking know me. So why don't you start explaining all this bull shit and maybe I can figure out what is going on in your saccadic mind before the birth of Christ."

"Faith you were…" But Michael was cut off by the sound of yelling from below. Second later Jeep poked his head out from the hatch.

"You guys are needed in here now!" he ordered, then vanished back inside. Faith and Michael ran for the hatch.

Charlie was in labor the baby was coming. Everyone was in a panic and Michael calmed them down and took over. He ordered Jeep and Bob to get some hot water and towels. Faith and Audrey were to help clear away a space on the ground for Charlie to give birth and Michael steadied the poor girl against his stomach, clasping her hands tightly.

Once everything was in order Audrey was designated the one to help birth the child while Michael played doctor and told her when to push. Faith helped with the rags and Jeep and Bob were sent to keep watch on the roof.

"Look just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I know how to do this," Audrey yelled, she was not handling the situation well.

"Move then!" Faith ordered. Audrey did gladly. Faith braced Charlie's feet against her shoulders and made ready to grab the kid and guide him out.

"Charlie, I need you to push," Michael ordered. Charlie was pushing against him and Faith, who had to scramble to keep herself in one spot. Her right foot shot back and pushed against the wall to counter balance Charlie's pushing. A loud horn blast filled the room, similar to that of a fog horn oh a ship.

All life in the room seemed to stop for several seconds. "What was that?" Audrey asked in a small voice.

As if he was brought out of a trance Michael frantically attempted ant hurrying Charlie along. "Charlie, I need you push again. Push!" Michael's voice filled the room as he attempted to get this over with. The horn blew again.

This time though it was followed by the sounds of a child crying and that of Bob and Jeep's feet as they ran into the room. Faith held the child for several seconds before Audrey took him. She tried to pass him along to Charlie, but she just looked away pissed at the world and upset. Audrey left the room going out into the main diner to show the others.

Faith remained to clean up the blood and help Charlie.

"Are we safe now? Is it over?" Charlie asked. Michael, who was helping Faith, looked over at her.

"No. But now at least he will have a chance to grow up, a chance to lead the world out of darkness." Michael whispered.

"And what happens until then?"

"You need to teach him how."

"What makes you think I can do that? What makes you think I want to do that? If he's so important why don't you take him?"

"Because you don't have a choice, and it is not my burden, not yet at least."

"And I can help," Faith commented. "You won't be alone in all of this. I'm sure Jeep wouldn't let you be if you tried. "

Charlie smiled at Faith, it was almost as if the three years of hate had all been an act. The four leave the room just in time of a third and final blast to fill the room.

"Something is going on something's moving out there," Jeep said. His voice was filled with panic and he was pacing. Audrey was holding the baby, standing next to her mother.

"The possessed can't go near the child. So he sent someone who can, someone like me." Michael said. He was loading one of the gun.

"Who?" Bob asked fearing the answer.

Michael paused, "Gabriel, he was sent to do what I wouldn't."

"Your orders. You were sent to kill the child." Faith asked her eyes widening in shock.

"What are you talking about?" Charlie asked Faith. She didn't answer. Charlie turned to Michael. "Michael, what the fuck is she talking about?"

"The child was never meant to be born. But now that he is, mankind will have a chance. The future is unwritten. There is still hope." Michael said. His eyes were pleading Charlie to understand.

Audrey went to hand the child back to Charlie and Sandra moved slightly. Something didn't seem right almost as if she….

Sandra rose and took the baby. She backed up to the door and motioned for Audrey. "Don't come near me. You heard him. They just want the baby. Maybe if we give it to them they will let us go."

"Mom no," Audrey cried out.

"Come on Audrey," She motioned for her daughter again.

"You give me back my baby right now!" Charlie ordered.

"Why? You didn't even want it in the first place. It's just one baby." Sandra backed up further and the door was torn open. A blinding light filled the room and Michael shot Sandra, who fell through the door. The baby went frying through the air and Jeep dove to catch it.


	8. Take the fall and run to Heaven

**Authors note**: Own nothing. Thanks for reviews enjoy for Gabriel is finally here!!!!

"Take the fall and run to Heaven"

Jeep just barely caught the kid before he hit the ground. Jeep slid and spun himself around so his feet were facing the door. He cradled the child in his arms and watched as an impressively large figure stepped into the building. He was probably six foot three if not taller. He had a square jaw and his eyes were a vibrant blue. His hair was cut just as short as Michael's only his was a dark as pitch. He rolled his shoulders and unfolded his wings.

They were jet black. Faith inhaled sharply shocked at the lack of a white robe or at least white wings. He was wearing body armor and had a mace in his hand. If this was Gabriel they were so totally screwed. It was just as Faith noticed it that he clicked it open, spikes shooting out of it, and swung it at Jeep. Jeep kicked back to dodge the blow.

Fearing for his son Bob fired at the angel, trying to draw his attention. The sound of shattering glass soon followed the gun shot. Gabriel stood, stunned, in the door way. Another shot followed by glass. Jeep looked over his shoulder and saw Faith flinging plates at Gabriel with every shot Bob let lose. The angel finally rid himself of the distractions and began to attack.

He jumped into the air and began to spin rapidly. The bullets that Bob was firing seemed to bounce back off of his wings as if they were made of steel. He landed in front of Bob and spun, using his wings like a deadly fan. Bob stumbled back a step and looked down at his stomach. A gaping wound cut across it and he collapsed to the floor. Gabriel shifted his mace in his hand and raised it into the air, preparing to bring it down on Bob. Faith threw another plate like a Frisbee and it shattered against his breast plate, drawing his attention.

Gabriel, sensing the new threat was more important than the last, stepped over Bob and walked up to Faith. His blue eyes stared into her brown ones. It seemed almost as if they were having a staring contest. Until it was interrupted by Michael grabbing hold of Gabriel's wings and pulling him back away from her. He threw a punch at the archangel that sent him flying into the wall.

Michael turned to Faith and grabbed her by the shoulders, "Go with Jeep," he ordered. "And help him. You are the only one who can. This is your job now; you have to remember who you were before. Now go!"

He pushed Faith away from him and turned to Gabriel. Faith ran out the back and found that all of the possessed had formed a path to the police cruiser. Jeep, Audrey and Charlie were getting inside. She ran for the passenger side door in the back and got in. Jeep backed up and pulled away. Faith looked over her shoulder at the diner that had been her home for three years. She rested her head back against the seat and closed her eyes.

Something must have been wrong with her head. Every time she closed her eyes all she could see was Gabriel smiling at her. He had longer hair and he wasn't wearing the armor. They were in that cloud place. The one she had seen when she was talking to Michael.

"Hopefully he didn't take all the weapons out," Jeep's voice intruded in on her dream. Faith woke with a start. She looked around it was still dark out but it was getting lighter. Dawn must be close.

"I got a flare gun and a couple of flares." Audrey said smiling. She held up the gun to show every one when something hit the roof.

"Oh shit!" Jeep yelled. He swerved the car to try to shake it off but it had a good grip. He accelerated and it came tumbling down onto the trunk. It was Gabriel. He broke the window in the back and began to climb through to get to the front seat. He grabbed hold of Audrey's arm and was using her as leverage. He made a grab for Charlie and missed. Faith dove for the flare gun that Audrey had dropped and shot it at point blank range.

It hit him in the head and he dropped back several feet. But he stopped himself from falling off completely by clinging to Audrey and flapping his wings to stabilize himself. Faith panicked and scrambled to grab another flare but he couldn't reload it fast enough.

"Do it!" Audrey yelled, and Faith had enough time to look forward at Jeep and see that he was going 100 miles per hour and planned on hitting the brakes. She dropped the gun and grabbed the seat belt as fast as possible. When Jeep hit the brakes Gabriel went flying out the windshield. He pulled Audrey out with him though. The two rolled in a tangled mess and Faith almost began praying that Audrey was dead.

Jeep lost control of the car and it went sailing down the side of the hill. It rolled several times and when it came to rest on its roof Faith lay sprawled out looking up at the back seat of the cruiser. She tried to move but her body wouldn't listen. She was in massive quantities of pain and her vision was going black she shut her eyes and everything went dark.

________

Faith opened her eyes to see a hand in front of her face. She grabbed it and was pulled to her feet. She stood up and smiled. The person who had helped her up was not a person at all it was Gabriel. His hair fell to his shoulders and he was smiling and laughing. Michael was with them laughing as well.

She looked down at herself and saw that she wore the white robes that she always envisioned angels wearing. She looked up and Michael and Gabriel were gone. She panicked and ran to find them. Something was not right. She burst through the door that she knew to be Gabriel's room.

There, lying on the bed was Gabriel and Michael. Michael was on his back, his legs pulled back to his chest. Faith backed up in shock at seeing those two having sex. Gabriel withdrew from Michael and went to talk to her. Faith ran from the room into the arms of Uriel.

"He wants to see you," he said calmly taking her by the arm and leading her to God's throne room. He sat waiting, Raphael by his side.

Faith was unable to control her body as it knelt before God. "You wished to see me, Father?" Faith asked. She had no control over anything. God didn't reply instead he motioned for her to back away. She did. Azriel appeared from the dark corner of the room. He circled Faith and stopped behind her. Before she could stop him he ripped her wings from her back.

_Wait wings! When did she get wings? _

Pain raced out along her back. A fist connected with her jaw and she fell backwards, only the floor of the hall wasn't there to catch her. She fell down for a long long time. She woke in pain and moved from the rubble. She couldn't speak, she didn't know where she was. She knew her name and that she had to get to somewhere safe. Slowly she got to her feet and began walking.

________________

Faith blinked she struggled to move again. What was that? Was that her past, the past Michael thought he knew? Faith slowly pulled herself out of the warped car. Charlie was helping Jeep out.

"Is Audrey okay?" Jeep asked. Charlie didn't answer. She just shook her head no. "Faith you okay?"

"Yeah," Faith go to her feet "I'm fine. Just a little banged up, that's all."

The group made their way to the mountains. Red Rock had to be just over the cliff. Just as they made it to the top though, Gabriel reappeared. Jeep went to tackle him but he just got thrown to the side. Charlie and Faith backed away from the approaching angel.

"Give me the child," He ordered. Charlie shook her head no. He went to attack but Faith stepped in his way. Gabriel backed up a step. He wouldn't attack. "Move, Faith!" he ordered. She wouldn't move. "You would die for them, for her, like this?" Faith nodded. "Then so be it."

Gabriel charged. So did Jeep. Both hit Faith and all three went over the cliff in a jumble of limbs. Faiths back smashed against the rock face on the way down and got detangled from the two men. She landed and bright lights flashed before her eyes at the pain.

Jeep lay with his back to the rocks and Gabriel began moving towards him. Faith pushed herself up to her feet and ran at Gabriel. She jumped and locked her arms around his neck. Gabriel reached behind his head and grabbed a chunk of her hair.

"Ahhhhh, Fuck!" Faith yelled as he hulled his over his shoulder. "Jeep run."

Jeep got up to run but Faith was thrown into him. Faith and Jeep slowly got to their feet. Gabriel towered over them he drew his celestial knife and got ready to strike. Just as he was about to though a light filled the area and Michael dropped down in front of them.

Michael attacked Gabriel with his sword. Gabriel dropped to the ground. Michael moved to strike him down but stopped. Gabriel flew off.

"Where is he going?" Jeep asked.

"To reunite with Father. I will be joining him shortly," Michael said. "You have to follow the scriptures Jeep. Find the prophets and help Charlie."

"Wait! Will we ever see you again?" Jeep asked.

Michael turned to him and smiled, "Keep Faith close."

"Do you mean religious or person?"

"Person. She has been dubbed your Guardian Angel." Michael laughed.

"So he's letting me back even after what happened?" Faith asked.

"As long as you don't bring it up… yes," With that Michael took off. Jeep looked at Faith with a puzzled look on his face.

"What was that about?" Jeep asked.

"A long story between the family." Faith laughed as they made their way back up to Charlie.

**Three months later: **

Jeep, Charlie, Faith and the kid sat in a Barnes & Nobles on the edge of Phoenix. They were going through books looking for a name for the kid.

"How bout, John?" Jeep asked looking up from his book.

"Yeah! And his last name can be Conner. And you can change your name to Kyle and Charlie can be Sarah," Faith said sarcastically. "Come on Jeep haven't you ever seen Terminator?"

"No," Jeep said down heartedly.

"Why not Soterios?" Faith asked. Jeep and Charlie looked at her like she was insane. "It means Savior in Greek."

"Hummm. Well I kinda like it," Charlie mused to herself. "Soterios John Hansen."

Jeep looked up at that. "You want him to have the same last name as me?" he asked.

"Well yeah if your gonna be the daddy you kinda have to don't you," Charlie laughed. She stood up and began to walk out between the half burnt shelves and toppled tables. "Seeing as how that's settled let's get out of here. It's gonna be night time soon."

"Right," Jeep said jumping to his feet running after her. Faith smiled and laughed. He was ever the little puppy following her around. She took a step forward and walked on a book. Bending down to pick it up she examined the cover. It was shinny and rainbow reflective with a picture of Michael on the front.

"The Book Of Angels by Ruth Thompson, L.A. Williams, and Renae Taylor."

She flipped through several pages and found one with Gabriel knelling next to the feminine version of him. She laughed and shut the book. She let it fall to the floor and walked out.

"There you are," Charlie called from across the empty parking lot. She ran over and grabbed Faith's hand dragging her along after her.

**The End **

OF THE FIRST PART

**Authors note2: **I left out the Gabriel/ Michael fight scene purposely. It will be the next chapter I post don't worry. It just didn't want to work into this chapter. So it will be up tomorrow. –Sydman24


	9. Fall

**Dear readers,**

**I am extremely sorry for the very long hiatus. Not only did I lose my train of thought for the story but my computer also deleted my word processor and all of my files, (FML) because apparently when you have a copy of windows seven that didn't come with a key Microsoft thinks it's fake and just up and deletes shit on you. But it's okay, I'm back now and these should come up on a regular basis now. Thank you to all of my readers, and sorry about the weird transitioning, ****XSilverLiningsX you are not losing your mind or anything I have a very weird mind set and realize****that it may be hard to follow sometimes. I will defiantly get on fixing that chapter, and thank you for the review. **

**As an explanation for the mind jump thing it was supposed to run, if I had done it correctly, as if Faith was re seeing her memories, which are coming back in spurts. A better explanation of Faiths past is in this chapter and the next one. So please bear with me you have lasted this far one more last leap of Faith is all I really ask. So now that you are all thoroughly bored to tears let's begin shall we? **

"I knew he'd send you, Gabriel, you were always so eager to please him," Michael mumbled under his breath. He knew that Gabriel's willingness to serve was not the only thing that sent him here.

"So it's just you and me now," Gabriel said as he slowly got back to his feet. Chunks of the dry wall fell away. The archangel glared at his former friend and brother. "You are implying something?"

Michael closed his eyes hoping to erase from his memory the images Gabriel's voice brought to his mind. He tried to wipe away the arrogance that flooded his system, the pride that clouded his mind, when he listened to the accusation of his friend. "Are you trying to regain Faith?"

"I never lost…"

"It was because of you that she left." Michael growled out. His voice was breaking; he was never the stronger of the two. He was always the one to carry on the orders not fill them. "You lost Faith, I did not."

"Then why was it that you had to chase her down to a Diner in the middle of no where to regain her trust?" Gabriel asked. His fists clenched at the thought of what was happening. How he had not seen it before, what he had almost done. "She is my sister. My twin, nothing of her was ever yours."

Michael inhaled sharply, "And yet you almost killed her."

Gabriel roared in anger and charged at Michael. He shot out his wings and twirled. He planed on inflicting as much pain as physically possible on him. He swung the mace and it connected with Michael's mid section, the only problem was the spikes had retracted on the mace so it was just a blunt force that sent Michael flying over the bar and into the stoves. Michael rolled and dropped to the floor. He let out a puff of air as his lungs compressed. He slowly got to his feet and leapt over the bar back into the 'arena' of the diner.

Gabriel swung again, only this time Michael was expecting it and ducked under the swing. He ran in the gap that Gabriel left when he attacked and threw his full body weight into the bigger angel. Both went down in a tangle of limbs. They rolled around on the floor, both trying to maintain a position on top of the other. Michael flipped Gabriel onto his back and grinded triumphantly at Gabriel, who retaliated by kicking said man in the gut and causing him to fly backwards on to the floor several feet away.

Gabriel got up, his wings flapping several times to stabilize him. He watched in satisfaction as Michael attempted to rise to his feet, but the two blows he had sustained from Gabriel were nearly causing him to fall back to the ground from the pain. "Your wings, they would have helped you now," Gabriel pointed out smugly. _Among other things._ He added mentally.

"To not feel their burden is a dream," Michael replied. He smiled at Gabriel as he stood up straight, grinding his teeth together to not moan in pain from his middle. He was not going to let him have that satisfaction. He walked over to Gabriel.

His anger slightly dissipated, Gabriel allowed Michael to get close to him. "Yours is a fool's sacrifice, Michael. Maybe you should run like the humans you so wish to be like. I'll give you a head start."

"No, no I'm not running anymore," Michael said. He sighed and placed a hand on Gabriel's shoulder. "The child lives. We don't have to follow his orders anymore." His hand ran up to Gabriel's face.

"It's enough," Michael pleaded. He ran his hand along the back of Gabriel's head hoping to sway him. He pulled Gabriel closer to him. "Please, it's enough."

"No, it's never enough," Gabriel pushed Michael away from him and brought his mace up. Michael picked up his machine gun and cocked it. Gabriel swung, Michael dodged. Michael brought the gun to his shoulder and fired; Gabriel spun and unfurled his wings. He blocked the bullets but didn't send them flying back at Michael; he wanted his to be a slow and painful death for what he did to Faith.

When what went down between him and Michael happened he did not know that Faith was in love with him. God, how had he been so blind. When Faith had stumbled in on them, the look on her face, it almost broke Gabriel to see that look. Gabriel the murdering lap dog of God, the heartless weapon of Michael, was in reality one of the most caring of the archangels (after you passed over Raphael) and was broken and brought to his knees by his twin crying. But Michael knew, he had let everything happen as if he could hope to win over both of them, yet all he had done was push both of them away. Now he would pay.

Gabriel thrust his mace forward. In defense Michael shoved the gun forward. He fired and the mace spun. Both weapons went flying, neither felt like picking them up. Both were aiming to cause pain. Gabriel spun, his wings were his new weapon, and Michael jumped and somersaulted over Gabriel's wings. Gabriel pivoted and kicked Michael back away from him. Michael slammed into the wall. He went to move but Gabriel's fists slammed into his gut five times in rapid fire. Gabriel stopped and Michael coughed up blood he teetered forward, dangerously, Gabriel smirked and brought his fist up and connected with Michael's jaw. Head snapping back, Michael flew into the wall again.

Gabriel, satisfied in the pain he had inflicted on Michael and now believed it was time to end this little skirmish, walked away and picked up him mace. Michael fell away from the wall, he was bleeding badly Gabriel had broken two of his ribs and one of them had punctured his lung, or at least come close to it. He almost dropped to the ground but was able to keep his feet under him.

Gabriel turned back to Michael and swung the mace. Michael gasped as the tip of the mace cut across his lower abdomen. Michael stepped backwards, as Gabriel advanced. Michael kicked Gabriel, the latter stepped back. With a growl Gabriel moved in. he brought his mace in a circle with his momentum and aimed for Michael's head. The former angel caught it and threw it to the ground after wrestling it from Gabriel's grip. Michael kicked, punched and threw Gabriel over his shoulder. The archangel caught himself in the fall and back flipped to his feet. With his opponents back to him Michael did the only thing he could. He jumped on his back.

Clinging to Gabriel's neck Michael held on as the archangel spun. Gabriel leapt into the air and slammed Michael's back into the ceiling, still he held firm. Gabriel dropped to his knee reaching for his mace.

"It's enough," Michael ordered, he prayed that his plea would not fall on deaf ears. It seemed, though, that it had. For Gabriel grasped his mace and brought it up to his left shoulder, the equivalent of Michael's heart. He twisted the handle and the point hidden within the cylindrical spiked weapon shot out and cleared his shoulder. Gabriel grunted in momentary pain and Michael fell off his back, his eyes wide in shock and gasping for air.

Gabriel turned and watched as his brother and lover lay on the ground gasping for air that would never come. The blow had pierced his heart it would be a quick but painful death. Wetness trickled down Gabriel's face. Shocked, he ran his fingers over the offending liquid and pulled back to find that it was water. He licked his hands, it wasn't salty like sweat. He was crying. Gabriel shut his eyes and tried to reign in his emotions, but Michael's gasps for breath broke his resolves.

"You wanted to live like one of them," Gabriel murmured to himself. He remembered the countless times Michael and Faith had ignored him for weeks on end in consideration of humans and their actions. It had never bothered Gabriel he had always liked to see them happy. He just wished he could understand the fascination. And now it was falling into place. The need for emotion and the ability to not have the weight of the world on ones shoulders, which for the archangels was literal, and the ability to die and not have to worry about an afterlife, the balance of good and evil. He swallowed down the emotion, "Now you will die like one of them."

Michael gasped one last time. He then vanished and Gabriel watched the spot where his body once was. Gabriel inhaled and steeled himself for what he had to do. His orders might cause him to have to end Faith's life just as well. God help him if it came to that.

A clicking noise from behind the bar grabbed Gabriel's attention. He walked over to see the man who had shot at him flicking a lighter.

"Sorry were closed," he said and flicked the lighter again. This time it ignited and the gas that had been leaking into the room since the beginning of the fight caught. Gabriel turned to run as the place went up in flames.

**Authors note: sorry again for the month it took me to post this. Hope you enjoyed and hop that I didn't make Michael too much of a weakling for the fight .But seriously Gabriel is a Archangel still and Michael (albeit very sexy and buff and awesome) is still a human. He is certainly going to get his ass handed to him. **


	10. Show Me Where Forever Dies

**Explanation time/ relationship status coverage: okay so… Michael and Faith were together. Not long after they started dating Michael got with Gabriel. Gabriel didn't know about Faith and Michael. Michael just wanted both of the twins for himself (wow I just made him a player). Faith found out and was banished from heaven. Neither Michael nor Gabriel were informed of the reason. Gabriel blamed the loss of his twin on Michael and Michael kept a close eye on Faith while she was on earth. Over course of movie/ fic I just finished Michael is trying to regain Faith's trust knowing she has no idea who he is until later. When Gabriel shows up he has no idea the girl who is attacking him is Faith (1 she looks different, has brown hair and brown eyes not the black hair and blue eyes she used to have on Heaven, 2 he hasn't seen her in 3 years she has aged). When he finds out who she is he is ticked off at Michael for never telling him. **

**Short and long of this is that Gabriel hates Michael right now and Michael cares for Gabriel as a friend. Though deep down, he holds stronger feelings. Hope this clears up the relationship issue thing. I only own Faith and the plot along with ****Soterios****. Thank you to all the loyal readers who have stayed with me. Sorry if I killed archangel lore in this chapter. **

"Show Me Where Forever Dies"

When God began to consider creating his Archangels he tried to take into consideration the fact that, at the time, all of the angel hierarchy was male. The first Angel he made was Samael. He was tall and dark, black hair and black eyes skin darker than the average pale angel, yet perfect in everyway. That God had planned. And when he first gazed upon Samael, he believed that he would only need one Archangel to do his work. He gave control of the dogs of Heaven to him as well as placed the lesser Angel's in his care.

But absolute power corrupts absolutely. And after a thousand years Samael began to go against Gods wishes. So he created Michael. He was golden and made from the light of Heaven. Not long after his creation, God placed Michael in charge of the lower angels, and any angels who were created there after. Samael was not pleased with God removing his power, and he began a rebellion. The angels who followed Samael clashed with those under Michael. The battle waged on and after all the destruction Michael cast Samael to the realm of hell. His name was forsaken and all of his god-like powers stripped from him.

When he finally had rebuilt his dignity back to its former glory his first action was to cast aside the name Samael. He took the name Lucifer and forever cursed God and his followers. He reigned in hell. And on top of that he set himself equal to God. He even began to refer to him as brother.

Fearing an uprising similar to Samaels, God wasted no time in creating several more Archangels to serve under him. Thus Gabriel, Uriel, Azreal and Raphael were born. And for years the five Archangels maintained peace in Heaven. It wasn't until 2,000 BC that a problem arose. Without Gods knowledge another angel had been created when he made his five. When he created his third Archangel, Gabriel, a strange phenomenon occurred. While Gabriel was male, a female counterpart was also formed. Fearing a conflict over her, God demoted her to the status of Guardian Angel.

Her name was Faith. She was almost an exact replica of her brother Gabriel. After years of service to the archangels, she finally took something for herself. Michael, leader of the archangels, had confessed his love to her countless times before. This time though she confined in him her returned affection. They spent several nights together before she was sent away and after four years as a watcher to a young girl she returned. But what she found was her brother and Michael locked in a passionate embrace. Heart broken she fled the inner sanctum of Heaven.

God, seeing her leave, had her brought to him. He stripped her of her wings, memory and voice. Fearing retaliation from her he shunned her from Heaven and sent her to Earth as a human. To disguise her as a human he changed her hair color from the black of her and her brother to brown as well as her unearthly blue eyes. Michael and Gabriel were never informed of what became of her and both grieved and went separate ways. Three years passed and Faith spent her time in a diner named Paradise Falls. Two days before Christmas Michael appeared he saved the group of them from God's wraith and upon the arrival and first attack by Gabriel, Faith regained her memory. God gave Faith back her position as Guardian angel and assigned her a new charge and his name was…

"Faith!" Faith jumped from the chair she was sitting in at the sound of Charlie's voice echoing down the hall. Faith's eyes widened and she slowly lowered herself to the floor of the room. She locked eyes with the boy who was supposed to be asleep on the bed and placed a finger to her lips. She lay flat on the floor and held still. Charlie poked her head into the room of her teenage son and flicked the over head light on. The room was bathed in a dim red light. The posters of horror movies and old action films coated every available surface of the walls. A large twin sized bed was located to the left of the door.

"Soterios, was Faith here?"

Soterios cocked his head to the side and looked at his mother questioningly. "Why would Faith be here and you not know of it? Didn't you place alarms all over the property?"

"Well yeah but…" Charlie started. Faith stood up from where she was lying on the floor.

"But, I have a habit of popping up at the most random of times when she has no idea I had," Faith said as she walked over to the door. She smiled as she held her arms out for a hug from Charlie. "How have you been?"

"We've been good. Very little problems from the possessed that are somewhere in the area, so I can't complain. If you want to talk we can move to the kitchen," Charlie said letting Faith step passed her. Soterios went to get up and follow them when Charlie glared at her son. "You… little man need to get to sleep you have a big day ahead of you tomorrow."

"But…" Soterios went to argue back.

"No buts, I'll still be here in the morning. After all it's not every day that my favorite nephew turns fourteen." Faith said smiling at Soterios. The boy sighed and lay back in bed. He stared up at the ceiling and closed his eyes hoping to fall asleep. He hated it when his mom interrupted the story.

Faith made her way down the hall into the living room. She stopped and waited for Charlie to catch up with her.

"Faith!" she turned at the sound of her name. Sitting in the kitchen, which was right to the left of the end of the hall to the bed rooms and bath room, was Jeep. Faith smiled at her old friend and walked into the kitchen. She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly in a hug. "God it's so good to see you. Wait has your hair always been that color?"

Faith glared at the man she had come to think of as a second brother. He knew that when God welcomed her back her hair was returned to its natural black hair and blue eyes. "Yes and I also have wings."

"Wait! You have wings? Thirteen years have gone by and you haven't even told us you have wings." Charlie asked. Faith sighed and nodded. "Well can you show us?"

Faith laughed and nodded. She rolled her shoulders, much like Gabriel had when he first arrived in the diner all those years ago, and a pair of black wings sprang out from her back she flapped them once. Allowing them to stretch out and then folded them behind her.

"Oh my God, that is so cool!" Faith spun around. Behind her was Soterios. He was standing with his arms at his sides, his short brown hair mused from the partial sleep he had gotten.

"Soterios, what are you doing up? I told you to go to sleep." Charlie yelled at her son. Soterios dropped his gaze to the floor. He shifted his right foot and folded his hands in front of him.

"Well I…I couldn't sleep and I was thirst so I got up to get a drink and I saw the shadow cast from Faith's wings and came in to investigate." Soterios said. Faith smiled. She wasn't angry at her adopted nephew/ charge, frankly she had wanted to tell him years ago but Jeep and Charlie wouldn't hear of it.

The clock in the living room chimed midnight and Faith jumped. Jeep laughed at Faith's skittishness. "Weren't expecting that were you?" Jeep asked laughing. Faith glared and rolled her shoulders again to adjust her wings. They seemed to vanish into thin air after she did so.

"Now why is it that you can do that but Michael and Gabriel can't?" Charlie asked. She got up from the table as she did so. Walking over to the sink she filled up a glass with water and walked it over to her son.

"Because I'm a Guardian angel, I need to be able to blend into my surroundings. Those two don't have to," Faith said. Soterios walked over to his mom and accepted the glass, he chugged the water inside and sighed contently. It was when Faith spoke of being a Guardian angle that he froze.

"You're…from the story and… but you can't be… are you the Archangel Gabriel's twin sister?" Soterios asked shocked beyond belief. Faith smiled and nodded. Soterios' eyes widened as he gaped up at Faith.

"Okay!" Charlie exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air, "time for everyone under twenty to go to sleep."

"But mom,"

"No buts, bed now," Charlie ordered.

"Night Soter," Faith called. She watched as Charlie walked him back to bed. When his door closed Faith sighed and stood up. She walked out of the kitchen to the front door.

"Were you off to?" Jeep asked following her.

"Well seeing as it's Soter's birthday tomorrow, wouldn't it be a good thing for me to have something to give him?" Faith asked walking backwards to the front door. Jeep smiled and nodded. Faith turned and walked out the front door into the dark. Jeep was about to walk down to his son's room to wish him a happy early birthday when the door opened up behind him. "You guys still have the solar panels up for movies and such, right?"

Jeep turned to Faith, who had her head poked into the room, "Yes and don't you get him another gaming counsel. He already has enough of those." Jeep called out when he watched Faith's head disappear behind the door. A chuckle could be faintly heard and Jeep sighed. Like she was really going to listen to him.

Faith ran over to her Ninja that was propped against the side of the house under Soterios' window. She walked it up to the main road and then climbed on. Kicking it into gear she sped off down the dirt road.

As a safety precaution several years back, Jeep and Charlie had decided to stay in one place until Soterios was old enough to travel. The original agreed upon age was nine but seeing as the boy was turning thirteen today the agreed upon age had been skipped over. The house that the Hansons now lived in was an old cabin, which had probably been a vacationing home for a rich family prior to the apocalypse. To get to the house you had to drive a mile outside of a small city in Wisconsin, which Faith could never remember the name of, down to a turn-off three miles from the next town. From there you drove two and a half miles until you passed a large collection of bushes growing against a rock formation. The rock formation was actually a man made tunnel that lead to a half a mile long road that led up to the log cabin.

All of this was in attempt to cover their tracks from any of the possessed that could be in the area. Faith road through the tunnel and sighed, she never liked that part. It took her almost an hour to get to the small town, Riverslope maybe, and she turned up onto the highway headed for the closest Wal-mart.

She swerved around the parked cars that had once been full of cheerful and happy people, before they turned into killer Angels. Faith tried not to think about that or the fact that at any second one of them could hear her and they would rain down on her like a swarm of flies to a dead carcass. She pulled off the highway and pulled into the pitted parkway that the Wal-mart was located in. The walls that formed the pit were made of layers of brick that held the dirt back and kept the main road at its elevated level.

Faith pulled the bike up to the doors and tuned it off. Pocketing the keys she got out. She had to force open the once automated doors and after leering them open she headed to the school supplies section. She grabbed a back pack off of the shelves and ripped the tags off. She opened it and checked the size. Yep it would all fit.

She walked back to the electronics department and navigated through the isle until she found the movie she was looking for Terminator Salvation. Soterios loved the Terminator movies and until now she hadn't been able to find a copy. She smiled and threw it into the bag. Next she went to the games and looked in the glass case. She located Dante's Inferno and Assassin's Creed 2 before she slammed her elbow into the glass shattering the case. She grabbed the games and it joined the movie in the bag. She debated weather or not she should grab a PS3 system, but decided against it. She shouldered the bag and walked out of the store. She climbed back on to the bike and looked at the wall next to her before starting it. She paused and read the graffiti on it.

'The flood goes on and on. There is no end, they are forever, the end is nigh.' Faith shuddered. The words were in black spray paint. On the white walls it stood out. But she would stake her life on the bet that the red spray that coated the lettering was not part of the artist's original plan. She sighed and kick started the bike. Faith steered the bike back onto the highway.

Faith lost track of time often on the trips away from her adopted family. Her mind would become lost in thought and she would run into things or she would miss a whole day tracking down a new lead.

Every time she came back to Jeep and Charlie empty handed. Every civilization that she could reach, every rumor of life all of it was always gone when she arrived. All that was left was silence and blood. And Faith feared that was all there ever would be. God may have called off the second round of attacks, but he had refused to pull his dogs back to heaven. And slowly all life was vanishing into nothingness. The skies seemed to slowly be covered over in a dark film, as if someone was trying to blot out the lights. The darkness that the world was falling into seemed endless like it would go on for forever.

Where did forever die? Or had it already happened? Could the human race pull out of this, rebuild itself from the ashes of their mistakes? Or had God crippled them beyond repair? Faith didn't and in reality she didn't want to. But she knew one thing the street prophet was right. The end is nigh.

**An: Wal-mart is owned by itself all games are owned by there owners and the phrase "the end is nigh" is property of Alan Moore and Watchmen (thought it really belongs to Walter) I couldn't resist putting it in here sorry. **


	11. change the worldleave it colder

**Thank you to my loyal readers. **

"I don't want to change the world"

Faith pulled the bike up against the window. Soterios was sound asleep when she poked her head in the room. She smiled as she walked around the house to the front door. She pushed it open and navigated the short distance from the door to the living room and dropped her back on the table. She fell onto the couch and sighed she curled up into a ball and fell asleep.

_Dream _

The sky was black. The air filled with smoke and smog so thick that she could barely breathe. Faith inhaled deeply, hoping to suck the little oxygen there was down into her lungs. She stumbled around in the dark for what felt like an eternity. Finally she saw a faint light ahead of her, glowing green like a neon sign. She ran to it and stopped short when she realized what it said.

The sign read _Paradise Falls_. Faith's eyes widened and she slowly made her way to the diner. She paused at the door and hesitated. She knew this had to be a dream; the diner had been blown up the second night of the attack on man kind. She closed her eyes and pushed open the door to the diner with which she had called home for three years of her life. The diner was lit up, as if it had been the middle of the day outside. She looked around. The diner was empty, as it normally was, and Faith made her way over to the bar and sat down.

"Somethin' I can get you? Maybe the usual steak medium rare, I can get Percy right on that?" Faith spun. Standing on a chair to her left was Bob. He was aiming to hit the poor TV again. He didn't even seem to be paying attention.

"Oh my god, Bob! What are you…how? You're dead," Faith said. She jumped to her feet and ran over to him. Bob stepped down from chair and walked over to her. He smiled and walked over to her. He smiled and laughed.

"How've you been? You look different and my god your hair is black," Bob commented. He ran a hand through her shoulder length hair. "Looks better now."

Faith laughed, tears ran down her face as she pulled Bob close to her in a hug. "I've missed you so much."

"Faith?" Faith looked up from Bob's chest and turned. Percy was standing behind her. Faith choked back a laugh as she raced to give him a hug as well. "You can talk now? God we have to talk, you have to tell us everything."

Faith spent the next three hours recapping her whole life after the apocalypse. She went into detail about everything from helping Charlie and Jeep getting to the house to every camp that was empty. She even began to attempt to explain to what Heaven was like.

"My lord girl, you seem to be trying to change the world with every move you make." Percy commented.

"What do you mean?" Faith asked.

"Well you are trying to find people who can help you make a difference. It seems to me that you are trying to re-gather the human race into one place to help rebuild it."

"Never thought of it like that. But I'm not trying to change the world. Trust me."

"Well…that's not important right now. What is is that you need to wake up." Bob commented waving. Percy did as well. Faith jumped up to stop them but the room spun and the dream ended.

_Dream end_

"Morning, Faith," Jeep said as he walked from the end of the hall into the kitchen. Faith sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She shivered as she thought about the dream. It was rare that a Guardian Angel was able to breach the realm of sleep, part of Azreal's domain. Something was wrong, Azreal was never one to allow angel's of a lesser status into his realm. A presence ghosted over Faith and she shivered. "Something wrong?"

Faith jumped. She had forgotten Jeep was still in the room. She turned to look at him and smiled. He smiled back, his hair was standing straight up and his eyes were still full of sand. He had on a pair of sleep pants and was holding a cup of, what she assumed was coffee, close to his chest. "Fine, why?" she replied.

"You shivered," Jeep pointed out. He motioned to her with his coffee cup and then brought it to his lips to take a sip.

"Oh, haha, well I just felt Gabriel's presence," Faith laughed to herself. She brought her right hand up to scratch at the back of her neck, a nervous habit she had picked up over the years.

Jeep's eyes shot open in fright, "Is he coming here?"

"Don't know, maybe. But he's not close enough to have to worry about him just yet," Faith said standing up. She walked around to the back of the couch and stopped. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back.

"Faith, Faith?" Jeep asked he walked forward to her and went to shake her shoulder.

Faith's eyes shot open and she inhaled sharply, "Oh god he's here."

"Who, Gabriel, shit we've got to move. I'll go get Charlie and Soterios," Jeep said as he set his cup down and began to run from the room.

"No! Jeep wait. It's not Gabriel or Michael. It's okay. I'll go out and talk with him. He's just here to see me. Something must be wrong in Heaven. Especially if he was sent," Faith turned and walked out the front door. She stopped and turned back to Jeep. "If I'm not back by four give Soterios my presents. There in the bag on the table, no I didn't get him a new game system. And could you tell him I'm sorry about not being here today?"

Jeep nodded. He understood Faith's dilemma, she wanted to stay but she had a greater responsibility to God then she did to him and his family. "Go get'em," he ordered. Faith smiled and ran out of the cabin. Once the door was shut behind her, Raphael appeared from behind one of the trees on the property line.

"He wishes to see you." Raphael said. His voice was soft and smooth, she snickered to herself when she caught that it seemed like a rich chocolate. His hair was brown and a bit longer then her own. He was the angle of healing and was probably the calmest one of her "older brothers".

Faith sighed, "Then we best not keep him waiting." Both spread their wings and took to the sky, vanishing through a portal of light before they even broke the tree tops.

"I just want to leave it colder."

Faith stopped flapping her wings when the light dimmed and she dropped to the ground. Her feet gently touched the ground and she tried to get used to the almost weightless feeling one had while in Heaven all over again. Though Heaven was supposed to be a place of brightness and light the halls leading to the thrown room of God and the council hall was made of cold black marble. Faith and Raphael walked the short distance between the entry hall and the door to the council chamber.

Raphael stopped short of the door, "I can't follow you in there. They wish to see you alone." Faith nodded. She pushed the doors open and walked inside. Faith stepped into the center of the room and looked around. Sitting in raised stands were the council angels. The council angels were a group of one hundred angels that attempted to maintain order in Heaven and on Earth. They were the equivalence of both the senate and congress of the United States government. But like government God (who was essentially the president) could do what ever he wished without the approval of the council of angels.

Faith's jaw nearly dropped though when she saw who was presiding over the council today. Standing behind the podium of the chair members was Uriel. His red wings were folded behind him, his long orange hair was tied back but unlike the normal chair members he was unable to keep his emotion from his eyes.

Uriel was the only Archangel whom Faith was unable to get along with. In her opinion he was hot headed and temperamental. He was also unnecessarily cruel. Something told Faith this meeting would not go over well.

"Nice of you to finally join us," Uriel commented looking up at Faith. His green eyes were alight with a daring flame that pleaded with her to challenge him today. "You, Faith, have been called here today, before the council of angels to decide the fate of Soterios, the young boy with which you have been charged with watching these thirteen years. As he is turning thirteen today your responsibility to him is over with. As such it makes today time for his evaluation. If he is to pass his life will continue on, but seeing as these are trying times on the human race a leeway line has been granted to all of its youth. Now, Faith, in any of your experience with Soterios has he in anyway killed anyone?"

"No," Faith replied, her hands folded behind her back.

"Has he attempted any silicate forms of sexual contact with family members?"

"What kind of question is that?" Faith asked shocked.

"Please just answer the question."

"No,"

"Any drugs?"

"No,"

"Alcohol?"

"No"

"Has he committed any sin to your knowledge?"

"Aside form being born?"

"Answer!"

Sigh, "No."

Uriel smiled and shuffled the papers around on the podium stand, "Well then, it appears that he is no longer in need of your services." Faith's mouth opened in protest but Uriel cut her off. "You will remain in Heaven until you have been placed with a new charge, as is standard procedure."

"You can't do this," Faith argued.

"Oh but I can, God wants this war finished, and you playing make believe with that family is only dragging this out. So you have been ordered to stay away from until they are dead. If there souls are found fit to move among us in Heaven then you will see them again," Uriel smiled as he walked out of the room, the other angels were beginning to vanish. "Say hello to your brother for me would you."

Faith stood alone in the council room. She dropped to her knees sobbing. How was she supposed to help protect Soterios now? She had promised Michael that she wouldn't let anything happen to him. Faith closed her eyes but every time she did all she could see was the dead faces of Jeep, Charlie and Soterios. Oh God! They knew where they were. Faith had to find some way to tell them to get out of the cabin. She had to get them away from there, or they would all die.

Faith got up and ran from the room. She sprinted down the hall to the room of the only person who could help her. She left the bark marble corridors behind her as she ran out into Heaven she had to get to the first Heaven. She had to convince Gabriel to go and warn them of the attack. Or there would be hell to pay.

**AN: sorry if I destroyed all of angelic lore with the creation of the council and the whole hatred between Uriel and Faith. Thank you to all of my readers again and I hope you enjoyed. **


	12. All is lost agian, But I'm not giving in

**AN: Thank you to all my loyal readers. I hope this is as good as my interpretation of the original story. And I also hope this isn't to confusing. I don't own the breaking Benjamin song "I will not bow" nor do I own the characters from angelic lore or the characters from Legion. Faith, Soterios, or my version of him, and the confusing plot line are all mine. As a side note I have began to ponder what actors to portray whom in the cast of Archangels we missed in Legion. Thoughts so far are **

**Raphael: Christian Bale (cuz he has the most amazing voice and it would be interesting to see him as a blond)**

**Azreal: Sam Worthington (with some hair kinda the length of Jake Sully before going to Pandora)**

**Uriel: I'm kinda thinking David Wenham with the Faramir hair style but more red and green eyes. **

**Sameal (yes he will be in this): Mads Mikkelsen (undecided thought)**

**God: Liam Neeson (dose this shock anyone, though it is so Qui-Gon/ Rob Roy hair and beard style)**

**Soterios: Max Piriks (was Blakeney in master and commander) **

"All is lost again"

The sound of something crashing to the ground and shattering filled Soterios' room. This was what woke the young boy up.

"Shit!" Soterios heard his mother yell from the kitchen. He smiled to himself as he quietly climbed out of bed. She was probably wrapping his birthday presents. He raced down the hall as quickly and quietly as possible for a thirteen year old to do so. Poking his head around the corner, Soterios, attempted to see what fell. It was a plate or had been before his mother had dropped it.

Charlie was crying as she placed the pieces of the plate onto the largest chunk. Soterios carefully walked into and began to help his mother clean up the mess. Charlie looked up and gasped when she saw someone helping her. She hastily attempted to wipe away the tears as she smiled at him.

"Hey little man, Happy Birthday!" she said, her happiness seemed fake but Soterios understood that she was upset over dropping the plate. He just couldn't understand why though, they had enough plates in the house to last a month without washing any, why was this one plate so special.

"Mom?" Soterios asked. Charlie looked up, "Why are you crying over one plate? I don't think Dad will be all that mad at you. We have a whole tone of plates."

Charlie laughed as she began to cry again, "It's not that, it's… the plate was one of the last things we had from-from your grandfather's diner."

"My grandfather?" Soterios asked, he had never heard anything about his grandparents on either side of the family. Soterios had grown up on tails of the "Great Purge" as Faith called it (always adding the air quotes as she did so) and tails of heaven and angels. He had always assumed that his Grandparents had died during the first days of the battle, when the entire human race seemed to be caught off guard by the slaughter. "Could you tell me about him?"

Charlie nodded; she gathered up the remainders of the plate and tossed them in the trash. She sat with her back to one of the cabinets and patted the ground next to her for her son to curl up close like he had when he was little. She wrapped her arm around his shoulder, pulling him that much closer and began her tale.

"Your grandfather's name was Bob. He used to run a diner out in the Mojave Desert. The place was called Paradise Falls, a small gas and grub location right off the main road. It doubled as both a gas station and a mechanics, your father used to work in it. I was a waitress there, and I and Bob never really got along. Not until the apocalypse began at least. It was on the last big night that the accident happened. God had sent Gabriel to kill us, you had just been born, and Bob was trying to protect you and Jeep. Gabriel attacked him and killed him. When we got back to the diner it was blown to bits. We don't know what happened. After hours of searching, Faith came back with some plates. So we took them and left. This was the last of them. It fell off the top shelf and… God I am so mad at my stupidity right now," Charlie seemed lost in thought and it came to no surprise of the two that she jumped almost a mile into the air when Jeep entered.

"Happy Birthday!" he yelled. In his hands was a cake and present jammed under his arm. He set the cake on the counter and passed the present over to his son. Soterios set the present down and smiled up at his father. "Well aren't you going to open it?"

"I'm waiting for Faith," Soterios said quietly. Jeep's face dropped. His smile vanished and his eyes seemed to darken.

"She had to go…she was called for, told me this morning to just have you open your things without her," Jeep said, he knew it would break his son's heart to know that Faith was missing another birthday.

"Oh," Soterios said downcast. He was hoping to see Faith again or at least for her to have said good bye this time. Soterios smiled as he pulled the present towards him and opened it. Inside was a set of books. He smiled they were comics, the ones he was missing from his collection.

The three sat around the kitchen table laughing. All three were hyped up on sugar from the cake and Soterios was reading his comics. Faith's presents were unwrapped and Soterios had sadly lost the battle to play either or watch the movie. It was almost night time and Faith had yet to show back up yet.

A faint buzzing emitted from what looked like a circuit board. Jeep got up and walked over to the board. "Someone tripped the first alarm level," Jeep commented. He turned back to his family. "Probably just a squirrel or something."

Jeep sat back down. Soterios jumped up and ran over to the window looking out expectantly.

"Sos what's wrong?" Charlie asked. She got up and went over to her son.

"Faith isn't here yet, maybe she tripped the alarm." Soterios looked up at his mother and smiled. Tow more buzzes filled the room. Jeep got up again and checked the blinking lights.

"Sections three and five have all been infiltrated. I don't think its Faith," Jeep said as he tapped the control panel. "There's got to be something wrong with the system I'm going to go…"

A howl/yell emitted from the woods outside. A chill ran up Jeep and Charlie's spin as they turned to look out the window. Nether had heard that sound in thirteen years. It was almost as if they had stepped backwards in time, back to the diner not long before the arrival of Gabriel.

Their worst fears were realized when from the shadows outside emerged several figures. "Fuck! Charlie, Soterios get to the mustang now. Get out of here!" Jeep yelled. He ran for the shot gun that was stashed next to the door and threw the door open. Soterios and Charlie followed behind and ran to the car. Charlie opened the passenger side door and ushered her son inside. She looked over her shoulder as the sound of a gun shot echoed through the night. Jeep had fired at one of the possessed who had charged him. Charlie watched as he raced into attack. Something seemed to trace around Jeeps lower arms.

Charlie's eyes widened as she ran over to him. "Give me the gun, Jeep," she ordered trying to take the gun from her husband.

"Charlie, what are you doing, get in the car and get out of here," Jeep told her. She took the gun from him and glared.

"Get in the car. Take your son you have to go with him, not me," Charlie said. Her eyes began to tear up as she turned and began firing.

"Charlie," Jeep started.

"Just go!" Charlie yelled. She shot one of the men who had moved from the tree line. Jeep fought back the tears that threatened to stream down his face, he ran over to the car and got in the drivers side. He shut the door and started the car.

Soterios' eyes widened as he watched his father begin to drive off with out his mom. "What are you doing?" He yelled. He tried to grab the wheel to stop his father from leaving.

"Stop it, Soterios. We have to go," Jeep said. He put the car in drive and sped off down the road. Soterios looked over the top of his seat and watched as his mother fought off the swarm that attempted to overtake her. She was winning until she ran out of bullets. Soterios watched in horror as she was overwhelmed by the possessed.

Jeep glanced up in the rear-view mirror and reached a hand over to pat his son on the back. "Sit down okay buddy," Jeep said, his voice wavered at the though of Charlie's death. He passed through Riversdale, three towns away from the cabin, and finally pulled the car over.

Jeep sighed and risked a glance over at his son. Tears were running down Soterios' face as he cried silently. Jeep was almost reduced to tears at the sight of his son so upset. Jeep pulled his son into his lap and held his head cradled against his shoulder. He rocked back and forth in hopes of cheering up his son, or at least calm him down.

"Dad," Soterios said, his voice was weakened by his crying. "Dad, what's happening to your shoulder?" Soterios pushed away from his father. Jeep glanced down at his arm; sure enough the black scroll work tattoo that had appeared on his arm on the night of Soterios' birth was back again. It had vanished not long after Michael's departure.

Faith had explained that the Prophets spent little time on earth. They were beings of supernatural heritage (no surprise there) that could see into the future. Born of angel and dragon, these three beings were of similar background to Raphael. In historic times these prophets had been called the Fates. They helped control how time followed and as such could help influence events in a different path then originally planed. Faith had explained to Jeep that when the Fates returned to earth the tattoos would reappear.

Once they returned the key to finding them was simple. The tattoos glowed gold when the bearer was approaching them. In the same mind set when the tattoos got farther away they would darken and become a deeper shade of black until a distance was so far between those who called for them and those who were called that they burned red hot and began to brand the skin.

Jeep swallowed and glanced up at his son. "What ever happens, Soterios, I want you to remember one thing. And that the fact that I will never let anything happen to you," Jeep said he held his son's shoulders tightly, much as his father had done all those years ago when he was little. "But, we have to find the Prophets and put an end to all this madness alright?"

Soterios nodded and climbed back into his seat. Once his belt was clicked Jeep started the car back up again. He put it into drive and began to pull away from the side of the road when something landed in front of him. Jeep slammed on the brakes and gripped the steering wheel tightly. Two figures could faintly be seen in the dim light from the headlights. Jeep gritted his teeth at the sound of Charlie's voice inside his head telling him to replace the bulbs. Outside one of the figures, the smaller of the two, attempted to climb to its feet. The taller one helped the smaller to its feet and flexed its shoulders. Jeep's eyes widened as he watched a set of wings extend from the back of the taller one's back.

Before Jeep could do anything Soterios unbelted himself and opened the door. He was yelling, "Faith, Faith!" as he raced out to the figure. Jeep followed trying to stop his son. Soterios stopped when he realized that the angel he was running to was not his Guardian Angel. Jeep wrapped his arms around his son and pulled him close. To do so he was on his knees, crouching before the tall angel.

"Thirteen years, and we meet in the same situation," a deep voice said over Jeep's head. Jeep's eyes rose from his son to the figure hovering over him. When he realized who it was his jaw dropped.

"But I'm not giving in."

Faith raced as fast as she could to the first Heaven. Shamayim was the Heaven most closely located to earth. Her older brother was the oddest Angel, he ruled over the heaven closest to the creatures he hated. Faith darted past the scholars from ages past ignoring them as she made her way to her brother's chambers.

"Gabriel!" she yelled as she threw the door open. She looked around the main room but couldn't find Gabriel. Panicking she ran to his bed room and opened the door. Lying sprawled out on his bed was Gabriel. He was lying on his stomach, a pillow cradled in his left arm and his right under his head. His right leg was hanging off the side of the bed and his wings were open flapping occasionally like a dog kicks in his sleep.

Faith fought back a laugh as she walked over to her brother. "Wake up," she ordered, shaking his shoulder in attempt to rouse him. He rolled over to his side and batted her hand away. "Gabriel! Wake up!" Faith yelled.

Gabriel jumped and fell backwards off the bed. A hand shot up and gripped the bedding and the side of the bed as said Angel attempted to get up. He glared at Faith.

"What do you…?" He started in a growl but when he saw the condition she was in his voice softened. "Faith, what's wrong?"

"Uriel…he-he removed my Guardian statues for Soterios. He won't let me go back to earth and the dogs know where they are." Faith said in a rush. He voice was broken from crying but she hopped that Gabriel would help her. She looked up from his chest and her hope diminished.

"And what do you want me to do about it?" Gabriel asked. He unwrapped Faith's arms from around his waist. He walked over to his closet, or at least it looked like one, and pulled out a black robe. He wrapped it around himself and walked back over to his bed. He sat back down and watched Faith. She walked over to him and glared down at him.

"Go help them!" Faith yelled. She waved her arm in the general direction of the door. Gabriel raised an eyebrow in amusement. He leaned to the side to see the door past Faith.

"Why would I help them?" Gabriel asked, he seemed to have lost interest in the conversation for his tone of voice went flat and the wall seemed to be far more fascinating.

Faith's eyes widened. She shook with rage at the thought that her brother could be so FUCKING selfish that he would sit there and just let them die. She tried to control her anger and walked over to him. She opened her mouth to speak but found no words to describe the anger she was feeling. She brought her hand up and slapped Gabriel across the face.

She turned to walk away but stopped at the door. Without turning around she said, "Michael would do it."

She expected the sound on fast footsteps behind her, what she wasn't expecting was Gabriel to spin her around and slam her against the door. She knew he would be angry, knew she was poking at an open wound by comparing him to Michael. Faith watched as all of the anger melted from Gabriel's face as he unwrapped his hand from her throat.

"Then go get him to help your precious humans," Gabriel growled as he backed away from her. His shoulders shook as he fought back the emotion he was feeling.

"I can't," Faith said dejected. She kept her eyes glued to the ground. "Please, Gabriel, I need your help."

Gabriel stopped his pacing around the room and looked at his sister. He sighed and walked over to the closet again. Faith looked up at the sound of something slamming against the wall. She wished that she hadn't though because Gabriel had removed his robe and the boxer like shorts he had been wearing before. She turned her head away and held up her hand hopping to block her brother's groin from her sight.

"A little warning would have been nice, bro," Faith said. She wished she could unsee what she just saw. But holy Christ he was big…NO! Nononononononononono she was not going to think like that, he was her brother for Gods sakes.

"Come on," Gabriel ordered. Faith looked up and smiled, Gabriel was wearing his battle armor. He walked to the door and pushed it open. Faith followed, her trust in her brother restored. The two walked out of Gabriel's chambers and approached the bridge to earth.

"Jump," Gabriel ordered and pushed Faith. He watched as she fell, the light swallowing her up. Gabriel jumped after her. He spread his wings to slow his decent. When the light deposited him on earth he looked around, lying on the ground was Faith. Chuckling under his breath Gabriel helped Faith to her feet. The dim headlights of a car shinned on the two. Gabriel unfurled his wings defensively.

The door to the car opened and a boy ran out. Gabriel went to attack, his mace forming in his hand. Faith stood back she went to let him attack when the sound of Soterios' voice reached her ears.

He was calling for her. Jeep was not far behind. He stopped his son and cradled him close, expecting the worst. Faith looked at the car, waiting for Charlie to run out and intervene but she never did.

"Thirteen years, and we meet in the same situation," Gabriel said. Faith smiled at her brother's attempt at humor. It seemed to be the only thing to smile about these days.

**AN2: So explanation is that second part takes place kinda around the same time as first. Yeah for Gabriel. Read and review next chapter should be up soon. **


	13. I Have Lost the Will To Change

**Authors Note: sorry about the long hiatus, School finals and one of my cats died so it has been a rough couple of weeks. But school is done and my thoughts are collected. And the next chapter will be up tomorrow. I just can't guarantee when. I own Faith, the Watchers, and the aspects of the tattoos. Please read and review and sorry but Michael will be popping up next chapter. Yay next chapter. **

"I Have Lost the Will to Change"

Jeep slowly looked up from the ground and glared at Gabriel.

"What are you doing here?" He growled. Something seemed off about his voice and Faith was trying to figure it out. Faith blinked as she tried to worm passed her brother. She pushed his arm aside and dropped to the ground beside Jeep and Soterios. Soterios was crying and Jeep was fighting back tears.

"Guy's what's-where's-Jeep! The tattoos are back!" Faith yelled. Before Jeep could say anything Faith grabbed his arm and yanked it into the light. Slowly she traced her fingers along the pattern.

"Faith, what are you…doing?" Jeep asked. She traced the pattern for a few seconds the pulled him down the rode, in the direction he came from, the tattoos darkened. She walked to the left, Dark. To the right, lightened and became slightly gold. She walked forward, back towards Gabriel, Jeep and Soterios, Gold again.

"They're northeast of here. If we follow this road we should reach a turn off and just have to follow the tattoos from that point. What?" Faith asked. All three of them were staring at her like she had lost her mind.

"I find it completely amazing how nothing seems to bother you about what's going on," Jeep said, his voice seemed to be coated in hatred.

"What are you talking about?" Faith asked. She backed away from Jeep like a scared animal from an abusive owner.

"This," Jeep practically yelled at her. "This whole thing with the apocalypse and God and just everything! Why are you still fighting for this? Why can't you just leave it be? This whole time it's just been you constantly pushing me and Charlie to keep running and even when we find a safe enough place to lie low, you're constantly leaving for months on end traveling between Heaven and Earth and then when you are here you're off looking for survivors as if you are going to eventually find some. We've lost Faith! Why can't you see that? How are we supposed to win?"

Faith slowly backed away from Jeep to the side of the road. For the first time in her life spent by him she was thoroughly afraid of him. A silence fell over the road and Jeep's last words echoed for several seconds as if further stressing his point.

"By moving forward," Gabriel broke the silence. Faith looked over to her brother. He was standing with his shoulders slumped, his mace hung at his side loosely gripped. His eyes were downcast and when he looked up they were shinning with tears. His whole being seemed to breathe defeat and dismay. He walked over to his sister and placed a hand on her shoulder. "By not giving up when you are so close to winning."

"How do you call this winning?" Jeep asked his anger dissipating and his voice braking with the force of tears. "How can any of this be considered winning? We just lost our home, our safe haven for the past five years. We have very little weaponry to even begin to consider fighting this war with. I just lost my wife to those things. And between you and me, I find it very hard to believe a word of what you are saying seeing as the last time we met, you were trying to kill me and my son under an order from God. Forgive me if I don't seem very trusting."

Gabriel sighed and looked down at his sister, "I will never understand how you and Michael can ever maintain faith in these creatures. A dog is more loyal then they are, and less destructive."

Faith laughed, "It is there emotions that make them so fascinating and it is also the reason for…" He voice trailed off when Gabriel's hand on her shoulder tightened. "What's wrong?"

"I am being summoned. We all are. Father is calling the entire of his Archangel's back to him. I must go," Gabriel moved away from his sister so that he would be at a safe enough distance to take off.

"Wait! What if it's something bad? What if…" Faith began, but she was unable to finish her statement. As she spoke she sent a glance over her shoulder back to Soterios and Jeep, hoping he would understand.

"If it comes to that, then I am on your side. I will return with Michael if that is the case. Even if it means giving up Heaven," Gabriel said, hugging Faith close to him. She looked up at him in disbelief at his last words. "You are my sister, he is my friend. And whatever the two of you decide is right I follow. It has always been that way." His tone was soft and caring. But it hardened with his next statement. "Now go. Find the prophets and have the scriptures read. They have caused us far too much trouble to be forgotten now."

And with that he took off and vanished. Jeep sighed and ran a hand over his face. Faith turned to look at him just as he was hastily whipping the tears from his eyes. Now knowing how much he lost to this war, a war that wasn't even his, faith was regretting every second of her time spent at Paradise Falls. If she hadn't been there this might not have happened.

But the time for pitying herself was over. They needed to move and fast to reach the home of the prophets before they ascended again and all hope was lost. Walking over to the two she picked up Soterios and carried him to the back seat of the car. She pushed the seat back and sat down. She leaned her head back and shut her eyes, something was defiantly wrong; she was getting fatigued more and more often these days.

"So what were you called for?" Jeep asked. He glanced over at her then back at the road. He had been driving for several minutes in silence and couldn't take it anymore.

Faith sighed, "I am no longer Soterios' Guardian Angel. Uriel saw to that." She looked down at her hands that were folded in her lap. It was her fault that Charlie had died. If she hadn't been removed from her status as Soterios' Guardian Angel then the possessed wouldn't have been able to come anywhere near them. It was the reason that they hadn't had problems before.

"So it's his fault?" Jeep asked. He glanced down at his tattoos and then back at the road. He turned right and continued on to the highway.

"I…no. It's my fault," Faith said. She watched the sky begin to light up on the horizon. "If I had thought about it then I could have done something to hold up the barrier. I could have…I should have, FUCK!"

"Faith…you couldn't have done anything for mom," Soterios said from the back car. He shifted and sat up with his head poking through the space in between the car. "She was kind of head strong like that. And besides I don't think you could have done anything, it's not like your God or anything."

"No I'm…what is that!" Faith yelled. She pointed over to the turn off. Jeep stopped the car and stared at it. Staked into the ground by the sign for the turn off was a body. It looked like it was impaled through its ass straight to the top of the head. Its mouth was open and gaping and its teeth were pointed and shark like. Jeep moved his arm in that direction and the tattoo glowed a brighter gold.

"I don't know, but that's the direction we're heading," Jeep said turning the car so that it was align with the off ramp then punched it.

Faith fell in and out of sleep over the course of the drive. But she was wide awake when Jeep pulled up to a large wooden gate, made of trees from the surrounding area.

"Wow! It's like one of the forts that the Americans used during the Revolution against the British," Soterios said. He got out of the car and gaped up at the gate.

"Who goes there?" A voice called over the gate. Faith looked up at the top of the gate and realized that there was a small guard tower with a person inside.

"My name is Jeep, my sister Faith and my son Soterios are looking for refuge. If you could provide some for us, we would be much obliged," Jeep called up to the guard.

"What is that?" The guard called. Jeep looked around and saw nothing. "On your arm."

Jeep glanced down at his arms. The tattoos were glowing such a vibrant golden color that the guard could easily see them.

"We need to speak to the Fates. Alchenam let us in." Faith called up to the guard.

"Ah, Faith good to see you. I should have known you would be here," Alchenam said. He pulled a leaver at the guard tower and the gates began to open.

"Alchenam?" Jeep asked. He shot a questioning look at Faith as they got back into the car and drove through the gate.

"He is one of the Watchers. He's not a full Watcher, just a human like minion," Faith said shutting the door.

"What's a Watcher?" Jeep asked.

"A Watcher is the name of the guardians of the Fates. But the only problem is, is the fact that they're not human. So about three hundred years back they started rounding up soul's that had passed on. They chose the top warriors of history. Alchenam was a Spartan soldier who was killed in the battle against Xerxes. He was commissioned in the beginning. He normally trains new soldiers. It's been a while since I've seen him on the field," Faith said. She go tout of the car and looked up to the guard post. Alchenam was gone.

A hand tapped her shoulder and Faith turned. Standing behind her was a 6'5" man with shoulder length blond hair and dark brown eyes. He smiled at Faith and then gripped her in a hug so tight that it would have crushed bones if she had not been an Angel.

"Alchenam!" Faith yelled hugging him close to her.

"You're here to see the Fates?" Alchenam asked. He looked over her shoulder at Jeep and Soterios. "So that's him then? The one who is supposed to save man kind?"

"Yeah that's him," Faith said. She turned and looped her arm around his shoulder. "So, can you get us in?"

"Of course I can, let's go," Alchenam said. He steered her over towards a dirt path that lead into the woods. Small tents were set up around a clearing on the outside of the woods. Stumps littered the path. They must have been where the fort came from. They followed the trail into the heart of the woods. A small clearing opened up. Standing in the clearing was to imposing figures. They were the Watchers.

Alchenam conversed with one of the Watchers. They nodded and Alchenam walked back over to then.

"Try not to piss them off," Alchenam whispered to Faith as he walked by. Faith watched him until it was to dark to see him. She turned and followed Jeep and Soterios to the tent.

One of the Watchers stepped aside and opened up the tent.


	14. I'll Survive, Paranoid

**Authors Note: After doing some research I have found that the internet is not cooperating with me on finding information about the fates. So I have made up stuff on my own, hopefully not clashing with anyone else's interpretation. And after reading through the past four/five chapters again I realized that I put down two different ages for Soterios. He is right now thirteen. So I will probably end up going back and correcting the mistake of 'fourteen' in the first chapter to take place outside of the movie. Thank you of bearing with me so far on this quest where I had no idea what was going on until I actually sat down to type but knew where it had to end. And I also hope that this chapter helps clear up any problems or holes that have been left in the story. Thank you for all the Reviews for without them I would have been lost on what to do with this chapter. **

"I'll survive, Paranoid"

The edge of the tent was lifted by one of the Watchers, and the three of them received their first look at the Prophets. Standing in a risen center of the tent were three women. Or to be politically correct: a girl and two women. Upon getting a good look at the three women, Jeep attempted to sprint towards them. Only to be stopped by one of the winged watchers.

"None may approach the Fates without the proper permission," the Watcher stated. It was the first time any of them had spoken and Jeep almost appeared to be stricken dumb by the sound of his voice. This being the reason neither of the two had spoken.

The Watchers were birthed around 5,632 BC by the present God at the time, whose name has been lost, similarly to that of the race he/she governed. They were created out of the necessity for the protection of the "Omens" more commonly known as the Fates. The Omens were the formless beings of limitless powers, though they had a tendency to govern the foresight. When they arrived on earth the Omens took a liking to the shape of women, seeing as they were and still are the fairer sex. And as such they were prone to attacks.

After the third attempted assassination on the Fates lives, God, created the Watches. They were a combination of many creatures, and would be termed as Chimera. They had the feet of a bird, with talons so sharp that one slice could bring down an entire mountain. The legs of a human, though they were not truly of human origin just based on the design, allowing them to be bipedal while still allowing for great distances to be run. Their body was that of a bull, strong and tough they bore a thick armor made of a metal not of this world or even galaxy. Arms of a gargoyle, which bore wings of a leathery texture, similar in making to that of a bat but with a tough layer of covering that was as strong as unplucked angel wings. The head held a resemblance to a griffin, with longer feathers at the crown of the head that fell to their backs, almost as if it was hair.

Add to the appearance the yellow eyes of a dragon, the ability to breath fire, weapons formed of celestial steel (the weapon of angels) and the breast plates and shoulder pads of the extra terrestrials and you could begin to envision what a Watcher looked like. And if their appearance wasn't intimidating enough, they were given one of the most commanding voices in the world. It was dark and gravely but at the same time smooth, if that was even possible, and made Gabriel's 'I'm-pissed-at-you' voice sound like a little kid trying to talk tough. The voice was created so that no mortal could disobey an order given by the Watchers. The upside to this was Faith was still kinda-sorta a Guardian Angel, seeing as she broke the Council's rules that status probably wouldn't last very long, and God was not so forgiving the second time around. The downside was that Jeep and Soterios were.

On the left was a young girl, probably seven or eight years of age. She had shoulder length chocolate brown hair and silver eyes. She wore a Greek style one shoulder strap dress. It was white in color. Her feet were covered by sandals that looked to be of Greek origin as well. She smiled at Soterios and waved.

Sitting next to the young girl was a teenage woman or young adult. She had auburn hair and deep brown eyes. She looked familiar and when Faith stopped to think about it she realized that she was looking at Audrey. Faith's jaw dropped in shock, how could this be happening? Audrey was dead wasn't she?

But this couldn't be the reason Jeep had made a move to approach. The last woman was. The last Fate was normally in the form of an old crone. She was the wisest and most unforgiving of the three sisters. For today though it appeared as if she had taken a younger form, seeing as she looked like Charlie.

"Is something the matter, Faith?" the Fate with Audrey's face asked. She stepped down from the platform and walked over to the group. As she did so though her form shivered and shifted, like a leaf blowing in the wind. It only settled when she stopped moving and stood in front of Jeep. She smiled coyly, hopping to act on the innocent expression that Audrey wore when she flirted with Kyle back in Paradise Falls.

"It is our form," the Fate with Charlie's face said. She too stepped off the platform and walked over to her sister. Though, when her form changed it shifted completely back and forth between her normal appearance and Charlie's. "The man seems to be upset with mine and…This girl," she gestured at Faith with a now withered hand, "Is either envious of yours or… she dislikes the fact that we are disguising ourselves as their deceased loved ones."

"Sisters, do you not think you have played with them enough?" The young girl asked. She stood from the throne like chair she had been sitting in, her silver eyes ablaze.

"Well dear sister, it seems that Atropos does not like our games." The one with Audrey's appearance said. She moved away from Jeep and back towards her youngest sister. As she did so her form reverted back to its original shape. Her hair grew so that it fell to her waist, her clothing shifted to that of the Greeks to mirror her younger siblings and, when she turned to look to her elder sister, her eyes shifted to the silver of a Goddess.

"Where you have no quarrel with your natural form, Lachesis, I wish to wear this form for a while longer," Clotho stated. She glanced back at Jeep. "That is…as long as someone here does not object?"

"Stop pretending to be her, you son of a bitch!" Jeep yelled. He tried to advance forwards to strike her or something but one of the Watchers grabbed him before he had the chance.

"You dare to insult me, I control your life, you little worm, and if I chose to I could end it this very second," Clotho yelled. Her eyes flashed back to their silver shade.

"Clotho! Calm yourself. This man strikes out in anger at you because you are wearing the form of his wife," Faith said, she was attempting to keep the piece, or at least stop Jeep from being killed. But as Clotho rounded on her, she realized that it was a VERY big mistake.

"I may wear whomevers form I chose," Clotho growled out, her anger was rising and it was also causing her to lose control of her form, with each second it rapidly shifted between the old crone and Charlie until it settled on the old crone.

"What is it that you have come her for?" Atropos asked. She was growing board of these people rather quickly and was ready to just order the Watchers to be rid of them.

"Thirteen years ago Michael, one of God's Arch-Angels, gave Jeep the order of finding the Prophets and learning what these," Faith grabbed Jeep's arm and showed them the tattoos, "mean."

"Ah…I remember these," Lachesis commented as she drifted forward. She took Jeep's arm from Faith and slowly traced her fingers over the black inking. "Yes, I remember them well, for it was I who inscribed them upon Michael's flesh. Oh I can still hear him whimpering in pain. It took a special ink to do this with you know, the reactive heat needed to help guide the bearer in the right direction, and the fact that it was being applied to Angel flesh. Yes, he got these at a very high price indeed."

"Price?" Jeep asked. His voice was cracking as he spoke. "What type of price did he have to pay?"

Lachesis laughed at his remark, "Ah, I have forgotten how much fun it is to play with males sometimes. They are so easily manipulated by just the brush of skin-to-skin contact. It is too bad that Michael paid in full on his visit to us. Judging by your appearance it would be so much fun to watch you squirm for release like he did."

Faith inhaled sharply, attempting to control her anger, "What are you talking about? What did you do to him?"

"Nothing really, I just inscribed the future clues that Atropos told me into his skin like he asked. It was the side effects that got to him in the end, you see not only am I the Goddess of the present for this time but I am also the Goddess of sexuality. And Michael crumbled to it like your friend Jeep is now," Lachesis said, her hands running up and down Jeep's arm as she spoke. "Only he was exposed to my touch fro far longer. And as any of the Heaven-born should know, to long under the hands of the likes of me will have the recipient trapped in a haze of lust so thick that any warm body would do."

It took ever fiber of Faith's being not to reach over and strangle Lachesis for what she was saying. "So his price was to have sex with you, is that what you're saying?" Faith growled out, her teeth clenched in anger and she was barely able to stay still at this point.

"No you silly girl, his payment was allowing me to watch," Lachesis said laughing at her as if she was a child. "What interest would I have in having sex with an Angel? I would lose my status as a Fate and as a Goddess for something like that. No when I was done I sent his back to Heaven. And then watched as he attacked the first person he found there. Sadly it happened to be a man so it wasn't as fun to watch. But seeing as it was Gabriel, now that was an added bonus. Your brother really is a gorgeous creature."

Faith's eyes widened in understanding, Michael had come here to get the tattoos applied and when he was returned to Heaven he had probably gone looking for her. Gabriel had probably ran into him when he was heading for her quarters, as they were located in the same part of the first Heaven, and told him she wasn't around. Unable to tell the difference between her and her twin brother or not really caring in the state he was in, he slept with her brother to diminish the lust. So this whole chain of events was because of Lachesis?

"Now on to the reading," Lachesis said she tightened her grip on Jeep and pulled him over to the platform. "Clotho, this is your job."

The Crone walked forward and pulled Jeep's arm towards her. She pulled his shirt off over his head to be able to see the entire inscription. And she began to turn his arm as she read, "When the world becomes blackened with hatred and sin again, the present God will once more cast his son down to exile and make him mortal. Only this boy bearing the blood of God may save this world, but he will do so at a heavy price. All around him will perish from their present state of being; he will lose everything of meaning for this his one and only cause. Until God is ripped from his throne and cast into the nothingness, forgotten and worshipped no more. But this can only be achieved when man kind's faith is killed. Only then may he choose to ascend to the throne, and take his rightful place as God."

Clotho let go of Jeep's arm and backed away, "You must go to Los Angeles. The place where the attack began, only from that point, where the bridge between heaven and Earth is weakened, may you pass to destroy God's faith."

Atropos motioned to the tent, "You may leave." Jeep, Faith and Soterios went to do so but Lachesis stopped them.

"Not you Faith, we need to speak to you," Lachesis said. Faith turned and motioned for Jeep and Soterios to go.

"Go find Alchenam, he'll get you guys to a safe place," Faith told them. The tent was silent until they left. It was only after that the Fates spoke.

"You know what must be done?" Lachesis asked. Faith nodded. She knew what she was talking about. "You and Michael knew this day would come and the two of you are prepared. Gabriel would have known if he paid as much attention as you did. But you will die on this present path if you are not given the tools to survive. You will never reach him, and Soterios will fail."

Faith nodded, "What are you proposing?"

"You must know what happened so that you may understand who your enemy is," Clotho said. She walked over to Faith and before she could react she placed a hand over Faith's eyes.

The room went black and then Faith was surrounded in blinding light. She tried not to panic, her breathing calmed and she concentrated on the things she was still able to control. Which was very little. She knew of what was happening but she had never experienced this before. Clotho was transporting her mind to the past to observe what happened in key events of her life that she hadn't seen all of prior. Sorta like the Ghost of Christmas past in A Christmas Carol.

The light cut off and Faith found herself standing in front of her brother's door. Not his room door the door to the house type of place where the lived before she was sent to Earth.

A crash echoed inside and Faith pushed through the door, she first tried to open it like a normal person but her hand fazed through the doorknob so that was out. Inside Michael was stumbling around as he made his way to her and her brother's rooms. She followed him and watched as Gabriel came running out of his room to see what was the matter with his friend.

"Michael, Are you okay?" he asked. He placed a hand on Michael's shoulder to help steady him. Michael nodded and almost collapsed onto Gabriel. Slowly he pushed himself back to his feet and balanced himself by placing his hands on Gabriel's shoulders.

"Where is Faith?" Michael asked. And immediately Faith knew what was wrong, he had just returned from seeing the Fates.

"She's not here; she probably won't be for another few hours. Michael, what's wrong?" Gabriel was concerned. His friend was acting strangely and asking for his sister. Something was going on.

"Fuck," Michael groaned out. Gabriel's eyes widened, something was very wrong. "I need her now, not…later." Michael looked up at Gabriel, eyes wide in realization. "You smell good,"

Gabriel nearly jumped out of his skin when Michael began to rub his nose into his neck. "Michael, what are you doing?"

Michael stopped and smiled up at Gabriel, "This!" He growled out. With as much force as he could muster, Michael shoved Gabriel into the open door to his part of the palace. Using the fact that Gabriel was already off center, Michael pushed him again. Gabriel almost fell into his room and whipped out on the bed.

Michael smiled and followed him in shutting the door. "Your mine, Gabriel! All mine." Michael began pulling the he wore when he mingled with the humans off and threw it over his shoulder. He quickly removed his belt as he walked to the bed and let his pants slide down his hips. Getting Gabriel undressed was simple, all he had to do was remove the back robe.

Faith shut her eyes and looked away, "I don't want to see this."

"Father, I have some very disturbing news to tell you." Faith opened her eyes again. She was in Gods throne room. Uriel was kneeling before him. What was going on?

"What is it Uriel?" God asked he motioned for Uriel to rise.

"It is Faith, my father. She…she is planning an uprising. She wishes to dethrone you. She wants to be God. And she plans on using your followers to do so," Uriel stated. Faith watched and moved closer.

"We must banish her," god said. He rose from his throne to walk over to the doors but Uriel stopped him.

"Banish? Father she must be killed, if we put an end to her now then…"

"We can not. If she dies a disaster far worse then the one she is planning will take place. If she is banished to Earth then she will be unable to do anything, and she will be safe there."

"Father, she will be far safe elsewhere. If she is to be banished place her in Hell."

God's eyes widened, "No!" he yelled. "If she goes to Hell, then Samael will kill her."

"And if she is banished then her brother and her lover will help her."

"I will erase her memory. And I will take her voice so that she will be unable to influence anyone else."

"Yes Father." Uriel left and Azreal appeared.

"You wished to see me father?" Azreal asked.

"Yes, Faith needs to be dealt with, I need you to strip her of her wings, erase her memory and drop her on to Earth."

"Yes Father."

It was because of Uriel that she was banished, his lie. The room shifted, she was standing in the wrecked dinner of Gabriel was standing over Michael. He was talking but at a whisper that she couldn't hear. Michael inhaled one last time and vanished. Faith did with him.

They reappeared in Gods throne room. "Father!" Michael yelled out. God appeared in the room on his throne and looked down at Michael.

Unlike Uriel he was not kneeling. "You disappoint me Michael, not only did you disobey my order but you also conversed with Faith. If it was not for your loyal Nature you would be in Hell with Samael. What do you have to say for yourself?" God asked.

"Because you need the humans. With out them you will fade from existence. You need them, Father, and you will realize this. But I don't want it to be too late." Michael said. His anger was dissipating; it always did when he was around God.

God sighed, Michael wouldn't give in. He thought he had the right idea but he was far from right. He didn't need that boy, nor did he need the humans. The only person he needed to keep on being the Supreme Being in the world. But he needed something to tide him over. He needed to give the 'good' dog a treat, "So what do you want?"

Michael inhaled sharply, his wings unfurling, he hadn't been expecting this. "I want Faith's Guardian ship restored," he said without thinking. He needed Faith back in Heaven even if it cost him being restored to an Archangel.

"Fine, it's done but you are not allowed anywhere near that child," God said, he brought a hand up to cover his eyes and ran it over his face. He motioned with his hand for Michael to leave. Michael turned to leave when God stopped him.

"Michael," God called. Michael turned around. "I want you to go get Gabriel. Bring him back here so that I may discus his actions with him."

"Yes Father." And with that Michael left.

"Now I understand why no other Gods prior separated their faith from within. It's far too much trouble to deal with," he muttered to himself as he waited for Michael to bring Gabriel back to him.

Faith waited for something to happen. But it seemed like Michael was taking forever to bring Gabriel back. She realized why when Uriel walked in. He looked different then the first time he arrived. When he was discussing her banishment his hair was back in a pony-tail, the style he wore when he was sent to patrol the bridge between Heaven and Hell. Now his hair was lose and flowing. Something was up.

"How much longer do you plan to allow Faith to play these games?" Uriel demanded as he stormed into the room. "Thirteen years, you have allowed this to go on. You have allowed Michael to strut around the halls of this place as if he did the world a huge favor. You wanted the human race destroyed, why have you allowed them to limp around like a lame animal. Put it down and out of its misery."

"We can't, as long as Faith is still covering that _boy _we can not move in to kill him. If you can get her away from them, then the dogs can move in and eradicate the infestation. Do whatever you deem necessary to get her away from them," God said. His fingers were laced together and he seemed to be thinking hard.

"Father," Uriel started. "What if, we put through an evaluation on the kid, Soterios was his name right? Get her away from him, the guard will fall."

"Yes. You have my full permission," God said, he looked at Uriel, a smile graced his features. "We need to have a meeting, to convince Gabriel and Michael that Faith is in the wrong."

"Yes Father," Uriel said. He bowed and walked out of the room.

Faith blinked in shock. This couldn't be, no way in Hell was this possible. The bright light from before surrounded her and Faith found herself back in the tent of the Fates.

"Now you know," Clotho said. She walked over to her throne and made her way back to Faith with a small bundle in her hands. "But knowing what has happened will not be enough, you will need these."

Faith took the small bundle and unwrapped it. Inside were two celestial knives. "You can't be serious?" Faith asked the Fates in shock. She knew this day would come but she didn't expect it to be now. Or at this price.


	15. Take the path that leads to nowhere p 1

**Authors note: **I am so very sorry that I haven't updated this for such a long time. There really is no excuse for why outside of the fact that my muse vanished and I haven't really tried to get it back. But I saw the preview for the new Paul Bettany movie and guess what came back. I'm happy and I hope you guys are happy to. This sadly is only going to be the first part of "Take the path that leads to nowhere" so there will be more than just two more chapters.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Legion or Breaking Benjamin's I Will Not Bow. To borrow one of the two main characters of this I do own please ask.

Take the path that leads to nowhere part 1

Faith walked down the paved streets of Los Angeles or the city of angels. But now it looked like the city of the damned. The once magnificent skyscrapers and buildings were worn down and crumbling. As she walked the wind that seemed ever present in Paradise Falls, seemed nonexistent now, here in this place of the dead. And yet Faith shivered, she pulled her trench coat closer to her body in an attempt of locking in the warmth. Something felt off about this place, this city. It felt similar and yet…different.

Faith stopped, but the world didn't. Three stories up in the building to the left, something flashed past the window. But when she glanced up at it, it stopped. All of the windows around her were filled with broken glass that were splashed with blood. A final testament of sorts to the apocalyptic battle that took place here. Shivering one final time she pulled the coat closer to her person and shoved her hands in her pockets before continuing on.

**CRACK**!

The sound of wood splintering broke the silence. Faith glanced at the ground and saw no object that could have made the offending noise. Someone else was here. But where?

Faith turned to look behind her and saw a man, or at least what she thought was a man. Hunched over and stumbling like that it could be anything. The figure limped/swayed as it walked, almost doubled over, down the street. Faith stood and watched as the figure slowly made its way to her. As she walked it occurred to her that the ground she had been walking on was no longer a smooth, paved road. Many times part of the road had either sunken into the ground or had been shifted up. Broken glass, bits of wood and splintered doors, car parts, twisted metal, newspapers dated December 25th 2010, and electrical wires littered the ground both ahead and behind he. The most disturbing part, though, was that any of the exposed pavement was no longer its normal pitch black color, instead it had a maroon tint to it.

The man was closer now, and Faith could make out more details about him. His skin seemed was a sickly pale/yellow color, and was shrunken in around his eyes. His hair was long and straggly, unwashed and tangled. It was black but it was unknown to her if it was his natural color or just the after effect of his condition. He wore a ripped tank top and pants that were torn to hell.

When he was several steps away from her the man tripped, but caught himself by stepping forward. His knees buckled and he almost collapsed. Fearing for his well being, Faith ran up to him.

"Are you alright?" she asked placing a hand on his shoulder, steadying him. He didn't answer, didn't even acknowledge that she was there. "Sir, are you okay?"

The man didn't respond. He breathed in deeply, the air rasping in his lungs and took a tentative step forward. Faith let her hand drop, shock etched upon her face. Earlier his appearance had confused her, now as she realized the full extent of his condition, it made her sick. His feet had been bare, they were bloody and carved up, deformed by the lack of medical treatment. It was amazing that he could still walk at all. His skin was that sickly color because he had been horribly burned in a fire, but the third degree burns had not been treated, instead they had been left to scab and become infected. The rasping that she had heard when he had inhaled was his charred lungs protesting against the expanding of his breath.

Realizing what it was she had seen, Faith was afraid of looking down at the hand she had rested against his shoulder. Slowly she did, and her fears were confirmed. When she had touched him, even the brief light touch it had been, pieces of his skin had flaked off on her hand. By all accounts the man should have been dead, if not from the damage done to his body but the initial pain which had been reeked upon it. Yet he was still moving, walking as if unfeeling. Only his eyes betrayed his predicament. They were the eyes of the dead. Black, bleak and life less, yet at the same time showing all the torture they were going through.

Faith had seen that look only once before. Azreal had gotten backed up when God had obliterated Sodom and Gomorrah. It was the same look that the soul's who had been among the wickedest sinners had shared.

"This is what your God does to mankind," Faith spun around. She knew that voice, and feared it. A man stood behind her leaning on a long metal staff. He had shoulder length black hair that was braided in several places to keep it out of his face. His skin was as white as snow, though that was expected as he spent all his time locked in the underworld, and his eyes were as black as the darkest night. He stood for all the evil and damnation in the world, but it hadn't always been that way. He at one point had been full of light but power, or the promise of it, had corrupted him.

His name was Samael, or Lucifer, Lord of the Underworld and guardian of the damned. Smiling Samael walked over the rubble and destruction as if it did not exist.

"Don't you love it?" he asked extending his arms and brandishing the staff he laughed. "I think it is the most beautiful thing in the world. Do you know why? Because it allows me to escape my chains and journey to this world. He never pays attention to the human world when he gets into one off his fits."

"What are you talking about?" Faith asked, she stepped back. As a lower cast Angel of God she had been taught to fear him and his power.

"Are you afraid, Faith?" Samael asked moving closer. She backed away again. "Ha ha this is funny. The faith of God, cowering away from his first born son."

"I don't cower," Faith said, her voice breaking as she spoke. "Never will I be afraid of you, Samael."

Samael smiled, "You're not?" he spun the staff and draped it over his shoulders, looping his arms around it. He opened his mouth to speak but stopped as if to reconsider his words. "Of course you don't fear him either, so you cannot foresee what is going to happen to you…but I will be merciful."

Faith laughed, "Are you even capable of that?" As soon as she spoke she knew it was the wrong thing to say.

Samael's smile faded and his face became grim. If it was possible, the air grew colder and everything stopped. Samael's arms dropped from the staff and it seemed to float in the air for several seconds. A black aura formed around the staff causing it to warp and shift, and as it did so Samael's head lulled back. Faith took four steps back before the aura vanished.

The staff, which had been a silver solid metal pole before, was now made of a black aged wood, slightly curved with a sharp curved blade at the end. It was Samael's scythe. As it was in the beginning, God, had created Samael as his son and as such gave him the task of tending to all things related to the humans, life and death. The scythe was a representation of that, but as Azreal was now the Angel of Death, Samael had to hide his scythe away. The handle was carved from the tree of life, that god had birthed Mother Nature from, and the blade was made from celestial metal, the same as her knives. It was the only weapon that could kill a god as easily as a human.

As the staff formed a set of white wings sprung from Samale's back, encircling him. The air shifted, pulling in towards him and just as it began it ended. Wings unfurling, Samael, reached for the staff and looked up at Faith. His eyes were glossed over white, and he spoke.

"Your coming actions have been foretold to the others, he will try to stop you. Though you may doubt this mission if you listen to him you will fail. And all will have been for naught. But all is not lost, Soterios will succeed he will become what his is meant to, but only when he is ready. But be ready, they are coming," And with that Samael vanished. Faith looked around in shock, where had he gone?

The world around her darkened and then relit slightly. Several miles away from Faith's position stood a building. It was the only one fully in tacked in the whole city, but that was not why her eyes were drawn to it. It was glowing, faintly, but glowing nonetheless. Samael stood at the top of it and then threw the scythe into the air. As it arched, it seemed to carve a hole in the sky. Bright light streamed through. Samael had just shown her the way to heaven. She stepped forward and the world fell away.

**Authors note part 2: ** so here is part one. Hope you all enjoyed and I hope it wasn't a waste of time. Next part should be up in a couple of days, provided that the muse doesn't vanish again. I just want to pass along that I haven't abandoned this and will not.


	16. Take the Path That Leads to Nowhere p 2

Authors Note: Sorry worked all break and word ran up on the computers at home. But back in school so this should be finished soon.

Disclaimer: I don't own song nor Legion.

Take the Path That Leads to Nowhere

When one thinks of Heaven the image of a white world located above the clouds comes to mind. Angels and the souls of the innocent coexisting in peace and harmony. But that was not what Heaven looked like when Gabriel arrived there. Instead it was as if Hell had been introduced to his home. The sky was black and acrid, thick with the smell of sulfur and brimstone. Smoke filled the air and the cries of the helpless and weak filled his ears.

All of this, he observed in the short span of three minutes before his presence was noticed. It was Alrienic who saw him first. She was the incarnation of Lust and Samael's favorite plaything. But she was also one of the strongest fighters in all of Heaven and Hell. She had long pitch black hair and skin as pale as the moon, sharp contradictions to each other just as her personality was. Her eyes were gold in color shinning and bright, full of cunning and malice which had earned her the place she had held for well over five centuries. She wore a thick piece of black fabric over her breast and around her waist, the rest of her was covered in a transparent red shirt and pants set. She wore the belt and scabbard of a sword around her waist but carried no weapon. She never fought, she never had to. All it took was one look sent to one of her minions and she was safe.

Alrienic smiled when she saw him. But her charms did not work on him, he was immune though he did not know why. Slowly she walked over to him, hips swinging provocatively and steps as silent as the grave. Gabriel let her approach, he had nothing to fear from this harlot.

Alrienic slowly reached up and placed one of her hands upon his check, slowly stroking the skin as she attempted to woo him. "Gabriel," she purred letting her hand travel from his face to his neck and then down to his chest. "It has been so very long since we have seen each other, I had hoped to get to know you more the next time we spoke, but it seems the Fates have other plans for us. Pity, I would have very much liked to add you to my collection."

She stepped back from his and turned to her soldiers. "Kill him," she whispered, her voice smooth as silk as when she spoke. And with that the smoke swallowed her up. Gabriel grabbed his mace off his back and held it at the ready. He could sense them coming even if he could not hear them.

A cry rose out of the smoke and the outline of a figure formed in the darkness. With inhuman speed a beast sprinted from the cover and ran for him. Thankfully it still wasn't fast enough to out race an attentive angel. With a quick flick of his wrist, Gabriel brought the mace up and impaled the beast in front of him.

It was a man, or at one point had been, warped by lust and greed it now resembled one of, that which it was, the damned of hell. It gasped as it struggled to tear his throat out, hoping that if it succeeded in its masters wishes that it would be revived.

"Pitiful, and yet I have no pity for you," Gabriel muttered, studying the beast. With little force he turned the mace within its body and then pulled it free. The creature fell to the ground twitching and writhing, hoping to stem the blood flowing from its chest. With a look of pure disgust, Gabriel brought the mace over his head and with all of the force he possessed brought it down upon the beast, splitting the head in chunks and coating the ground with blood and brain matter.

But this one lone beast was not to be the end of Alrienic's minions. A large collective of shouts and cries came from the mist as twenty or so of the beast emerged, racing at full sprint towards him. Gabriel swung and threw the first of them back into the mist where it was trampled by its brethren. The second reached him not long after but fast enough that he could not strike. It charged with such force that Gabriel was knocked to the ground. The creature sat on top of him, victoriously, but that was short lived for Gabriel brought up the mace and connected with its head. Like the first of its kind the beast's skull split and it was thrown off him.

Rising to his feet, Gabriel dealt blow after blow to the beast sending them back with minimal force so as not to get caught off guard. With one final swing of his mace, Gabriel sent the last beast reeling with a gaping hole in his chest. Gabriel paused for a second hoping that he could take the time to catch his breath. But that idea was short lived for Alrienic came running out of the mist screaming and brandishing a short sword.

With a cry she jumped into the air and tackled Gabriel to the ground. He was stunned for a second but recovered quickly. He swung the mace up to drive her off of him but she caught it in mid air.

"Did you really think," she snarled out as she ripped the mace from his hand, "That I, the incarnation of Lust could be defeated so easily?"

She threw the mace over her shoulder and then repositioned herself so that she sat on his chest, effectively holding him down. Gabriel struggled to throw her off of him, something was wrong, he should have been able to toss her around with minimal effort. She laughed at him and brought the sword up over his heart. With a triumphant cry she gripped the hilt with both hands and rose it over her head.

Gabriel calmed his breathing, this was it, he was done for. His mind turned to his sister hoping she was okay and that she would forgive him for not returning. Alrienic let out a shrill scream, but not of excitement at killing a archangel but in terror and pain. Gabriel opened his eyes. Michael stood over both of them, his sword impaled in Alrienic's body and his wings unfurled, hovering in a defensive pose.

Michael pulled the sword back and let Alrienic's body drop to the ground. Gabriel looked from the body to Michael, shock written all over his features. Michael smiled and extended a hand to Gabriel to help him get up. Once on his feet, Gabriel began looking for his discarded mace. But it was nowhere to be found.

"Looking for this?" Michael asked, holding out his mace. Gabriel frowned and took the weapon from him. "Should be more careful, if I had not arrived when I did you would have been lost to us forever. I don't think I could have faced your sister with that on my conscious."

Gabriel slid the mace back onto his belt and Michael slid his sword in the holster on his back. With a sigh Gabriel looked over at his friend, "What has happened here?"

"Samael has broken through the gates of Hell, he has unleashed his sins upon us and I fear that the power we have is not enough," Michael said. Michael looked around at the state Heaven was in.

Gabriel placed a hand on Michael's shoulder trying to provide a shred of comfort, "We have to find Father, if anyone knows how to fix this it is him." Michael nodded and both made their way to the throne room.

The entrance room was empty, but the throne room was not. All of the chairs were occupied by both members of the council and lower angels who had taken refuge here from the sins and their torment. Without casting a glance at the center of the room, no that they could have seen he figure in the center if they had tried, they made their way to the upper tier of the room that only allowed the archangels to enter. From there they could see all of the room and intervene if necessary. With Michael and Gabriel were Raphael and Azrael. Both were staring, horrorstruck, into the center of the chaos were God's throne was located. But it was not God who sat in the center of the room.

A dark figure, clothed in shadow and black robes, sat in the chair. By the shape it was male, possible around six foot six when standing, but that was all that could be observed. The figure sat motionless, watching what was happening around him, without a care as to what truly was happening. He didn't move until the doors to the room opened again.

"Livian," a voice roared out from the other side of the room. The figure on the throne became tense. He was afraid of the man on the other side of the door, but so was Michael and the rest of the angels, weather arch or not, located in the room. Shadows and darkness leapt forth into the room. It slowly crawled up the walls to every light, and once it reached it, encased it and darkened it. Once the darkness was sufficient the figure stepped into the room. It was Samael. Trailing behind him was Gilreant and Pilorage.

Gilreant was of average height but was of greater mass then any man who had walked the earth, the incarnation of gluttony, born in 1957 he had military buzz cut for a hair style and green eyes. Pilorage was tall with straight shoulders and a smug expression on his face, he wore his hair to his shoulders tied back in a ponytail, the customary sign of the French wealthy in the 1700s when he was alive, he was Pride. Samael walked five paces ahead of him, bearing the mortal appearance of an Arthurian he had cut down in the prime of his youth, brown hair in braids to keep it away from his face, deep brown eyes that seemed all-knowing, and scars from battles that he had never fought in. That meant that the figure in the throne was Wrath, Sloth or Greed.

"Livian, what do you think you are doing?" Samael asked. He walked to the throne where the figure now stood, waiting. Samael removed the man's hood; he had short, spiky white hair. But he was not old; he was in fact 27 when he had died. His blue eyes were cold but he was smiling at his "master". Samael's growl filled the room, "Never wear your hood around me boy. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," the man ground out in reply. He was upset now; this might be the new Wrath. "And, Father," he spit the word out like it was dirt. "I was only claiming what was owed to me. This is all mine, I have claimed it, I have staked my claim. MINE!"

Michael stepped back from the edge of the tier, it was a new greed, and he hadn't known the old one was dead. But then she was never a decent one. But that was not what troubled him. No it was the fact that the laws of Heaven or Hell stated that for one to claim something the previous owner must be dead. Did this mean that God was dead? No it wasn't possible, and it sure as Hell wasn't that simple either.

Michael watched the room across from him, staring blankly at the wall, until he saw something move. Someone was leaving, and he was trying to get their attention, or at least his. "Gabriel," Michael whispered, pointing at the figure. "Look."

"Do you think he wants us to follow him?" Gabriel asked. He didn't take his eyes off the figure so he didn't see Michael's look of shock.

"You can see him?" Michael asked.

"No, but I can sense him just fine. He is a member of Heaven and he means us no ill will. And someone is waiting for us as well," Gabriel said. Michael nodded and began to make his way to the door.

"If you leave," Azrael said turning from the scene to his brethren, "Then you forsake Heaven to these demons, and you are abandoning your place as a servant of God."

"This is not within your jurisdiction; you don't have the authority to remove us from his side," Gabriel said, he cast a glance back at Azrael, almost daring him to try.

"No, but Raphael does. He can make you mortal, and he will if you leave. You are casting away your primary mission for some boy who should have died long ago," Azrael stood in a battle stance, his scythe not far out of his reach. Gabriel pulled his mace from his holster on his side.

Michael placed a hand on his shoulder, "Do not rush into a thing like this Gabriel, we need to go see the man he might be able to help us save Faith." Gabriel nodded and re-holstered his mace. The two of them left the tier and made their way to the figure that stood waiting for them.

He was of medium height not as tall as either angel yet more so then his companion, who wore a hooded robe. The robe was grey in color, he was a soul trapped in between Heaven and Hell, and he had yet to receive a trial to find his eternal resting place. The man they could see though had on white robes that contrasted his skin tone. He was bald and his hands were clenched in fists. His back was to the angels when the y approached and he was speaking to the other figure.

"…still not used to having both of them," he said to the robed man. He held up both fists and laughed. The figure looked up and then reached for the cowl of his hood. He pulled it back and both angels recognized him. Michael in a positive way, Gabriel not so much so.

"Well, took the two of you long enough to get your holy asses out here," he said. His hands ran through his shaggy blond/brown hair. His brown eyes glared at Gabriel, as he made to reach into a nonexistent pocket.

"You see, Bob? This is the reason you're stuck in those grey robes." The first man said.

"What the hell would I want to wear a girly white one for anyways, Perc?" Bob asked. " 'sides I like this one much better, less conspicuous that way."

"Lord as my witness Bob one of these days…"

"I wouldn't finish that if I were you Percy. It could place you in a unseemly situation," Michael said smiling.

"Oh really? Well let's go Big Man, let's see what you got. I still have to pay you back for that 'blowing your hand off' joke you made back in Paradise Falls," Percy said fists at the ready.

"And I thought I was the violent one," Gabriel grumbled.

"Nobody asked you!" Bob yelled pointing at Gabriel, menace written all over his features. "You and I still have a fight to finish and when I'm through with…"

"Now hold on a second, Bob. We're here to talk about Faith remember?" Percy said trying to stop the fight.

"Yeah I do, so let's get this over with before I show Blob here what to do with his head," Bob growled.


	17. Take the Path That Leads to Nowhere p3

Authors note: All right so here we are again. Back on this path of me taking forever to update and few to no reviews coming in. Two more chapters remain in this story and as I approach the end I find that I am not really ready to let go of this Legion story yet. So I've been thinking, if I can possibly get some good feedback on these last two chapters that I might create another story that centers around Faith's time in heaven prior to her fall and the (I think it eleven) year gap that I left between the movie end and my fic. These will be short story blogs that may or may not link up. This will mainly serve as a way to rid myself of writers block for another nonfanfiction piece I have been writing for several years now. So what's your opinions on this? I really would like to do it (I will write them just not post them) if the feedback is bad.

On another note, can I please get some feedback on the last chapter? I don't want to seem pushy but I kinda want to know how you guys are responding to not only the sins being involved but the appearance of Bob and Percy. Alright so as not to irritate or upset you guys anymore then I might have by this point let's see how Faith and co. are faring.

Take the path that leads to nowhere part 3

Faith's eyes flew open and she sat up in shock. The darkness of whatever pit she had fallen into was still surrounding her, only now it was just the darkness of night. She sighed, allowing herself to catch her breath. Her heart beat rapidly with the force of the nightmare, or was it a vision.

She hated this. As an Angel the only time she dreamed was when someone, be they spirit or fellow angel, was trying to contact her. Now as a mortal she was suffering from nightmares and she was unable to tell if it was the future or just images her mind was casting to pass the time. She had no way of knowing until she had tested it, which normally meant going to the location of the dream. In this case that was most defiantly out of the question. Even if she could leave Jeep and Soterios alone and be assured that they would be safe, she would never survive Los Angeles.

Faith sighed and lay back down. She closed her eyes and listened to Soterios' breathing on her right. But it did little to calm her mind enough for her to get back to sleep. She rolled over onto her left side. Her arm extended over to the small wrapped parcel that lay there. Slowly so as not to make any noise, she unwrapped it and removed one of the knives from within. She turned and lay on her back again, the knife held above her. She rotated it around, studying its features in the dim light that came through the flap of the tent. She tilted it just right and the light from the fire reflected in her eyes.

Abandoning all hope of getting back to sleep, Faith got up and stepped out of the tent. Alchenam had brought her to this campsite when she had finished her conversation with the Fates. Jeep and Soterios had been waiting for her, and it wasn't long after that, that night fell and they had gone to sleep.

Faith sighed and sat down in front of the fire. She closed her eyes and let the heat wash over her and dispel the dark shadows left from her encounter with Samael. The fire crackled and spit. Faith opened her eyes and watched the burning logs.

The center most one split in half from the heat causing a shower of sparks and hot ash to plume up into the air. The sparks fell in an odd pattern, almost as if they were trying to form a face, or image. Half of the ash fell back to the fire while the wind carried the other half back up into the air. Both swirled and formed human like shapes. Another gust of air brought the lower form up, while a lack of a breeze dropped the higher. The ash figures met and entwined in a dance resembling that of loves. The figures spun again and the one who had initially been the lower figure turned their face to Faith.

It was hers, and the world seemed to dissolve around her. She was in Michael's room back in heaven. She stood in the center of the room hugging Michael close to her, and yet at the same time was also an outside watching her own actions.

"Why do you have to leave?" She heard herself ask, her voice was a whimpering whine that begged for Michael o give into her wishes.

"You know that Father needs me to go with Gabriel to watch over Mary. She carries a very precious child and she needs our protection," Michael spoke in a half whisper running his hands through Faith's hair as he did so. He lowered his head and nuzzled his cheek into her hair. He inhaled, drawing in her scent. His arms dropped and he began to turn away from her.

Faith leapt forward and grabbed Michael's left hand. "Don't go please, not yet," she cried tugging on it. Her voice shook, which meant that she was either thinking hard or scared of what she was about to do.

Michael turned to face her and spoke as he did so, "Faith, I can't…" But his words were cut off by Faith She had forsaken all of her fear and had wrapped her arms around his neck. She pulled herself up to Michael's height and pushed her lips to his. Faith shut her eyes, afraid of seeing how Michael would react. Said Archangel's eyes were wide with shock.

_What was she doing? _Both thought. Faith slowly opened her lips and slid her tongue out to lick at Michael's lips. She brought her right hand away from its position around Michael's neck and ran her fingers through his hair. She made her hand into a fist and pulled on Michael's hair. He gasped and Faith used that opportunity to slide her tongue against his. Faith stopped, she stepped away from Michael and looked at the ground.

Michael blinked several times, he was unsure of what had just happened. It's not that he didn't know what she had just done; he knew she had kissed him, but he was unsure of what to do know. His mind was at war with itself. Part of him knew that Gabriel and father were waiting for him in the throne room and that he had to go to them and yet… Another more vicious part of his mind was screaming at him to remain here, with Faith, for just a few minutes longer. It was in a span of three second that he made up his mind, and it was three seconds that would change the course of his existence forever.

Angels, weather Arch or not, were given special gifts both upon there creation and when they received there eternal position among the ranks. The first gift was the connection to God, a bond that could only be broken by committing the greatest of all sins, murder unjust and unwarranted. The second was everlasting life whether it be on earth, in heaven or in hell they would never truly die. The third was the greatest of all, protection, a shroud so to speak, that covered the angel from any harm that a mortal would wish upon them. One of these gifts was unconditional, one was lost upon entering purgatory having forsaken God, and the third (for it was the most cherished of all) was only lost when an angel brought themselves down from their higher field to that of the mortal realm.

In those three seconds Michael cast aside one of those three gifts and yet…he would not change his actions in the insistent for anything. Michael walked over to Faith. He brought his hand up under her chin and made her look at him.

"I-I'm sorry. Michael, I didn't, I don't…" Faith began, she was fighting back tears. Michael put a finger to her lips to quiet her and then replaced it with his lips. He gently kissed her and using his tongue he pried open her lips. Their tongue battled for dominance. Michael's hand traveled from its location on her shoulder, down her back and to the edge of her robes. He pulled it up slowly and backed away from Faith long enough to pull it up over her head.

He smiled to himself as he threw it over his shoulder in a crumpled up ball. Faith wrapped her arms around her chest, ashamed of herself. "Don't," Michael muttered as he reached out for her arms. He wrapped his hand around her wrist and gently pulled her arms away. He studied her body, his eyes hungrily tracing the curve of her breast. He placed one of his hands on her waist, the other he traced her breast. Faith gasped when his hand accidently brushed her nipple.

Michael quickly retracted his hand, "Did I hurt you?"

Faith couldn't speak she just shook her head no. Michael slowly brought his hand back to her chest. He placed it just above her breast and slowly brought it up to her neck. He traced the column of her throat before lowering his face to bury it there. His lips traveled from her shoulder to the junction of her throat, right above her collar bone. Faith sighed and Michael sucked on that location.

Faith grabbed at his head and pulled him back. Michael stared at her in shock. She grabbed the hem of his robe and attempted to pull it from him, but she only got it to his waist before it got tangled in his wings. Michael laughed and helped her remove his robe. Faith had yet to get her wings so she was not accustomed to having to work around them.

When he was naked as well he pushed Faith backwards to his bed. She fell back upon in and crawled up towards the headboard. Michael smirked as he climbed on. He made his way up the bed on his hands and knees, moving like a panther stalking its pray, a devilish smirk playing across his lips. He came to a stop when he hovered over Faith.

"What's wrong," Faith asked looking up at Michael. "Michael, what's wrong?"

"I don't want to hurt you," Michael whispered. He kissed her neck again and then rose up to look into her eyes.

Faith smiled and grabbed his hand. She guided it down her body to the junction between her legs. She then released it but turned her hand and cupped his groin. Michael sucked in a breath and struggled to remain in the upright position. Faith ran her hand along his cock. She cocked her head to the side curious as to why it hardened. Michael looked down at Faith, he knew what he was supposed to do, he had seen humans in there love making many a time before. Michael grabbed her hand and pulled it to the side.

He sighed and looked at her. "Are you sure?" he asked. She nodded. He swallowed and positioned himself. Without thinking twice he entered her to the hilt. Michael's eyes widened and he almost fell on top of Faith. So many sensations were swimming past his mind that he almost didn't register Faiths cry of pain. Michael looked down at Faith, her eyes were shut tight, her head was turned to the side and she was crying. Michael moved to pull back.

"No don't!" She yelled. Michael stopped. He looked down at her again. She was staring up at him, her eyes filled with unshed tears.

"But I'm hurting you," Michael gasped out, he went to move again. She grabbed onto his shoulder and dug her nails in. He stopped again.

"Move back in." She ordered. He nodded and did so. Faith threw her head back. It hurt but there was a faint underline of pleaser. "Again," she whispered. Michael blinked. Faith moved her head back to look at him. "I said again!"

Michael pulled out slightly and then thrust in again. He was rocked by the tightness and warmth of her. He did not need her to tell him to move again. He thrust again, this time pulling out farther. Each time he drew back farther and farther. Faith threw her head back and fought back the screams that tried to escape from deep within her. On the eight time Faith threw he head back again, her world went white and then descended into darkness.

"Michael!" she screamed out as she reached her orgasm. She arched up to him and then collapsed, her world falling into darkness. Michael followed soon after, he held on to consciousness long enough to pull out of her and collapse beside her.

"Faith, Faith!" a voice called to her. Faith blinked and sat up. She looked at the fire in front of her and then up to Alchenam who had woken her. "Come, you must get up. We have to go."

Faith rose and made her way into the tent. Soterios was sitting up rubbing sleep from his eyes and Jeep was pulling his sweat shirt over his shoulders. Faith walked past both of them and grabbed the package from the floor. She clenched it tightly and walked back out of the tent.

"What's wrong Alchenam?" Faith asked. She walked over to him. He was watching the path that lead back to the wall. Faith watched it as well. Something felt wrong.

"They are coming," Alchenam said. He turned from the path and walked past the tent just as Jeep stepped out of it. Soterios followed him out. He walked over to another of the human watchers and took the bag he had. It was a black duffel bag. Heavy in weight. "It has guns, food and everything else you will need to get to where you are going."

"And where exactly is that?" Jeep asked walking over to Alchenam. He took the bag and dropped it to the ground. Crouching next to it he opened it and began sorting through its contents.

"L.A." Faith whispered. Jeep stopped and looked up at her. "We have to go to Los Angeles. It's the only way."

"And how are we supposed to do that?" Jeep asked. He stood up and walked over to her, waving about a shot gun that he had been attempting to load.

"By following the path Samael has laid out for us," Faith said, she looked up at the gun and reached for it. "And give me that before you hurt yourself." She grabbed the gun and walked over to the bag. She loaded the gun and turned to Jeep.

"Regardless," Alchenam began, "We have to go."

Faith look over at her old friend in shock, "We?"

"Did you really think that the watchers would really just send the three of you out there alone with the son of God? Are you insane? Do you really think Michael or Gabriel would ever forgive us?"

"No but God will not forgive you if you come."

Alchenam laughed, "We are coming none the less. You need us Faith. Especially if you plan on going to Los Angeles."

Faith sighed, "All right, get us out of here and you can come along."

Alchenam smiled and nodded. He turned and spoke with the other watcher who nodded and began down the other path.

"Come," he said motioning for them to follow him. "If we are to leave at all then we must leave now."

Soterios climbed onto Jeep's back. Jeep and Faith ran after Alchenam who followed the first watcher. The forest path was silent. But the quiet was broken by an ear shattering screech.

"They know we left," Jeep said. He looked over at Faith and Alchenam as he ran.

"As well as the prophets. They left last night," Alchenam called back over his shoulder.

They ran long into the night and well into the next morning. It was at noon when they stopped and set up camp.

Authors note part 2: sorry about the ending. I hope the scene between Faith and Michael was not to crappy. That was the first sex scene I have ever written hope it wasn't too bad. As per usual please review I would like to have at least two more before I post the next chapter.


	18. I Will Not Bow

**Authors note: streets and buildings in L.A. (aside from 777 Tower, Griffith park and the hospital mentioned ) are all made up because I have never been to Los Angeles nor have I been able to stop Google maps from crashing on me every time I try to plot out a course. So please no sending me messages about how these locations and streets mentioned do not exist, truthfully I don't really give a damn. On a happier note I am back finally for the final chapter of I Will Not Bow where everything comes to a close. So get your popcorn (or chips) and settle in a nice comfy chair and get ready to read. **

I Will Not Bow

Michael stood on a ledge overlooking the empty throne room. Just a mere hour before the room had been packed with Angels, each hoping to understand why the soulless minions of Samael was at their doorstep, why God no longer stood at his place of honor instead…there was a incarnation of sin, Greed, sitting atop the almighty's throne. Now it was empty, quiet, a desolate waste land where only shadows would see what he was about to do. Michael had not been, nor would he ever be, the son of God who gave him what he asked for; he would always be the rebellious one and for that reason…he was the only one to know how to reopen the gates.

"What we need," Percy had whispered once they were sure they were alone. "is a riot."

Michael looked from Percy to Bob and then back to Percy again, confusion written on his face. But it was Gabriel who spoke first, "A what?"

"A riot is a mass of people running around screaming causing chaos and discord. With that happening the others won't be able to stop you from going back to Earth to find Faith," Percy said. He was smiling as he explained his plan but Michael was still frowning. And Bob was shaking his head.

"Perc, for something like this to work we would need a large number of spirits or souls or whatever on our side. And we don't have that. I told you before that this plan wasn't going to work," Bob walked about the small space as he spoke. "'sides we only have a few more hours to get them down there."

"Why only a few hours?" Michael asked.

Percy sighed, "Because in a few hours Faith, Jeep, and Soterios will be in L.A. and Samael will try to take the throne from God."

Michael nodded, his face a grim line showing none of the emotional turmoil his mind was going through, "Then we have to get started."

The plan was in essence a very good plan, minus the riot, but having to actually do what was required for it to work…well he wasn't so sure about that. He really wasn't ready to lose friends again, and this time Gabriel's, Percy's and Bob's soul was on the line

Michael's job in this plan was to get the keys. Gabriel was working on the gate keepers and Bob and Percy were opening the portal. Percy's plan worked like this, Michael would enter the throne room and find a way to get to the keys, keys which opened the gates of heaven allowing souls to move in and out of heaven. Normally a small bit of the gate was opened allowing for Archangels and higher level beings to pass through, but seeing as heaven was in this state of lock down all passage between earth and heaven was restricted unless of course one had the master key.

But having the key was only a part of the challenge. To get through the gate a soul had to be judge by the gate keepers to get in. To get out you had to have correct pass port. Truthfully it was worse than Airport security prior to judgment day. But once again it was not the normal passage guards, now with Samael running the show, it was probably two of his sins guarding the path. That was where Bob and Percy came in. They had to open a portal to trap the sins in hell again to get through the gates. To open a portal though a soul needed to be sent to hell, or even purgatory if it was done wrong. And as Bob was the only one even close to that point he had to commit a sin that would put him over the edge. In other words he had to kill an innocent soul. Portal opened sins went in and the gate was opened, he and Gabriel would leave for L.A. and save the day. Simple right?

So here he was sitting on the ledge that over looked the focal point of Percy's plan. And it was at this very moment that his conscience decided to kick in. If he stole the key's and ran to Faith he would have to abandon his Father to Samael's plan of murder. But if he stayed and fought then he would lose Faith to the demons that had infested L.A. and the son of God as well.

It was without a second thought that he stepped off the ledge and dropped down into the center of the room. No alarms went off; no guards came rushing in to stop him, nothing. Carefully he stepped into the middle of the room and approached the throne. The key to the gates sat on the throne, waiting. It had to be a trap.

But he needed the key so he slowly made his way over. Nothing happened so far and he was an arm width away. It was now or never and it had to be now. Quickly he reached forward and grabbed the keys. He waited for something, but nothing happened. With a sigh of relief he walked out of the room through the main doors.

How had that been so easy? He wondered to himself and then he stopped. He was Michael; he normally had access to the key and was free to use it. This was the very reason it was his job to get it. He was really happy that no one else was there to see that. Gabriel would never have let him live that down.

Gabriel was having a little more of a problem then Michael was, but only a bit. It wasn't that Salvictor and his men were too strong of an opponent for him to handle, no quite the opposite in fact…they were to slow. Salvictor was the incarnation of sloth and in his previous life had caused the death of millions because he could not be motivated to pass a bill through congress, or something like that. And truthfully he posed as much of a threat as an incarnation as he had while he was alive. None at all.

Gabriel had originally planned to wait until Percy gave the signal to confront the guards but seeing as it was them…well he would be lucky to make it in time at this rate. Gabriel had walked right up to the gate and stopped in front of one of the guards before anyone had noticed him. And then it had taken a full minute (in which he had killed two of them) for any of them to react. He had turn to run, to lead them away but after several strides and no sign of his pursuers he stopped and turned around.

All of them were still at the gate gathering support to venture after him. He sighed and stood there waiting. Five minutes went by and they finally started after him. At a walk, a slow one at that. Three minutes later they had finally reached him and he stepped back. With each step they took he retreated. They were only twenty five paces from the original starting point. He had another four-hundred and twelve to Bob and Percy. Was this even worth it?

Bob sat back and waited. This was the one part of Percy's plan he didn't like. That because his survival all hinged on the two angels getting back here alive and clearing his name. And truthfully he really didn't trust Gabriel at all. And his delay was making it even worse.

"He should have been here by now," Percy said slowly pacing back and forth in front of Bob. He had been doing so for the last ten minutes because Gabriel was supposed to have arrived that long ago. "Do you think he's hurt?"

Bob laughed. Leave it to Percy to worry about an angel that had tried to end the human race and kill his friends. "No, Perc, I think he is a worthless piece of s…"

"Are we really reverting back to name calling?" Gabriel's voice echoed around the quiet area. He backed up slowly under the arch way and Bob stood up to confront him.

"Now listen here you. We're not the ones who are late. Mike is probably at the gates now wondering where the hell you are and…you're not listening at all, are you?" Bob said, his thunder stolen when he realized that Gabriel was still approaching slowly and with his back to him.

"Not really, no. Is the portal open?" Gabriel asked. He glanced over his shoulder to see that the answer was no but waited for Bob's confirmation of that to continue. "I would suggest you open it then. We only get one shot at this."

"What are you…?" It was at that moment that Bob finally got his first look at Salvictor's men. He laughed and got up. He picked the knife up off the table and walked over to Percy. "Do I really have to do this?"

"Yes, Bob, because it's the only way we are ever going to make sure that everyone down there gets out of this alive. He brought the knife to his chest and positioned it over his heart. "Now all you gotta do is push."

Bob nodded, tears streaming down his face, "I'm sorry Percy," he mumbled and tightened his grip on the knife. He pushed forward but lost his balance as he did so. The knife drove into Percy's heart stopping it, and dropping his soul into purgatory, and he fell backwards under the weight of Bob. Bob landed on Percy, his body weight driving the knife deeper and Bob lost the battle and started sobbing. A bright light encased the two of them and a wind started up. Gabriel jumped away but the Sloths were not so lucky. They were sucked in and with a flash the portal closed.

Gabriel looked one last time at the location the two friends had landed in and then ran off to meet Michael. He had more important things to do then worry about their souls and what would become of them. His sister was in trouble and that was all that mattered to him.

The gates were open when he arrived and Michael was waiting for him. "Are you ready?" he asked looking to his brother to see if he was alright. Michael had, had a stronger bond with the two then he let on and had felt the pain far more then Gabriel. He needed to be sure he was okay to proceed into a battle zone. Michael nodded and the two of them stepped through the gates.

A light surrounded the two of them and when it dissipated they found themselves standing in the middle of a destroyed city block. It was quiet, far too quiet for them to be in L.A. something had gone wrong. Gabriel reached for his mace as Michael pulled the sword from his back. Both of their attention was focused on a building not far up the road, toppled over by a counter war many years ago. Something was moving towards them, something very much alive.

I will not break

They traveled for two days before reaching the outskirts of the city. Whatever Los Angles looked like prior to the end of the world, whatever it had aspired to be, none of it mattered because now it was a mass of crumbling buildings and broken dreams. The five of them stood on a small hill looking down over the city. At one point it had been Griffith Park.

"Alright so where exactly are we going?" Jeep asked. They were under shelter of the Observatory and were studying one of the maps that Alchenam had brought along with him. Faith looked at the skyline as the sun began to set. The sun behind the buildings cast a light that looked like the glow that Samael had projected around every building. But one stood out. The glow pulsed.

"That one," she pointed to one of the buildings near the center it was small and crumbled over, what had probably been a building at a decent height was now ruins, ruins that could still be used as a ladder of sorts to get them to where they really needed to go.

"That, that is just a law firm. There's nothing in there of great importance. Why do we need to go there?" One of Alchenam's men, his name was Calcifur, asked as he looked up from the map.

"It's not that building specifically that we need, the one we need it the one that it's leaning against. But we can't just walk into that one because whatever bomb blew that building over took out the lower floors. But as luck would have it, that building braced itself up against it at the level that we can get through." Faith explained. She never took her eyes off the sky line and watched as it grew increasingly darker.

"And how exactly do we get to the top of said building to get to the level might I ask?" The other man, Mitchell, asked.

"Simple we go through it, climb in through the front doors and make our way up either stairs or, if they're positioned right, we can climb up the elevator shafts using the original pulley systems as guide lines." Faith explained. She crouched down near the two men who were studying the map. They had brought out a small lamp to see by that didn't cast enough light to be seen. Faith slowly traced a path through marked roads and alley ways. She was going by memory of how she got there in the dream, but the problem was this map only showed roads not buildings or any other obstacles. "We should go this way first," She said tracing her finger alone the map. "Change to this street, then here, next come this way, hide out here if we get over run, stay off this road to avoid cutting to close to the hospital and then finally come in to the building this way."

"That takes us right by the Good Samaritan Hospital; we can't go in that way." Calcifur said.

"But we have to, there's a building down over here," she pointed to a street right next to the building. "We have to go around it, or through it personally I'll go with the around."

"Why are we worried about Hospitals?" Jeep asked. He had been on the other side of the room with Soterios. He had been trying to get the boy to fall asleep, but like everyone else in the room he was worried. "It's not like they're zombies, they don't congregate around a location that might have had a lot of people in them. Do they?"

"No they don't, but there are more of them in that location, or at least more likely to be. The sick, occasionally mentally ill patents you find in locations like that are not something you want to deal with as a possessed. To make matters worse a city like this, so close to the gates of heaven and hell, becomes a breeding ground for scum to collect. It's been thirteen years now and these things have had a chance to evolve or convert animals," Alchenam said. It was now dark where they were and the last of the light was fading behind the city. "See those things are what we have to worry about."

From one of the smaller buildings a swarm of birds flew up into the air. From this distance they looked to be the size of crows. They were in reality the size of a small child, and able to carry one off if it was needed.

"What the hell are those?" Jeep asked. His voice shock with fear and it had every right to. The creatures were terrifying and menacing.

"Hell birds, average wing span is six feet, height is about four feet. They can carry off a small child on their own or two of them can grab a medium sized human. They have three eyes, and are better hunters then eagles, only they hunt at night. They can't see during the day at all, so they sleep then. Truthfully they are the reason we are staying here tonight." Faith said. She sighed deeply and stood up. "I would advise you get some sleep, we leave at dawn. It should only take two hours to reach the tower but I don't want to get stuck in any tight situation and have no time."

They each took watch to make sure none of the possessed snuck up on them. But no one got any sleep that night and the dawn seemed to take forever to come. Faith was the last one on watch; she sat outside on the balcony overlooking the city. The semi-automatic machine gun that rested in her lap felt like an awkward weight as she watched all of the horrors make their way back into the buildings, back into the darkness to hide. Her heart felt heavy as she watched a flock of Hell birds fly into one of the buildings close to the tower.

Calcifur was the first one of the group up. He walked out onto the balcony and sat next to her, but something seemed wrong. "What aren't you telling us?"

Faith looked up and then out into the city before she answered, "None of us are going to make it through this alive."

"Not even the boy?"

"No, not unless there is a miracle. We will all die on the way, there's too many of them."

"We've handled odds worse than this with these things. What makes you think that we can't handle then now?"

"The mutations, some of them have been here so long that it's changed them, it's not as simple as it was before. I've only seen a mutant once, thirteen years ago, it was in the first stages of the change and had no idea of what it was capable of. It went down easy only for that reason. These ones in the city they know what they can do and they have a very strong grasp of what they are capable of." Faith said she sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She curled her knees up to her chest and buried her face in her hands.

"You mean the ice cream man don't you?" Jeep asked. He had been listening to the conversation on the other side of the sliding door. It was beginning to worry about what she was saying. "He wasn't that bad, creepy but he couldn't really have been that bad could he?"

"Did you watch the first Resident Evil movie with Soterios a few years back?" Faith asked. Jeep nodded, of course he had Charlie refused to and someone had to watch it with him. "Do you remember the bunny thing? Every time it bit someone the DNA changed I believe the terminology used was 'making it a stronger, faster hunter."

"Yeah but what does…you don't mean that every time that one of those things kills someone it mutates and gets better at killing do you?"

"Sadly, Jeep, that is exactly what I mean," Faith stood up and brushed her pants off. "Get the others up, we have to get moving."

The first hour ran smoothly; no distractions, no confrontation. But after that first hour, well everything went south. They were on West Street walled in by buildings, it had once been one of the main business sections of the city, and they had to follow it for two more blocks. Problem was half way down the road one of the buildings was down blocking the whole of the road. In most cases it would be a straight through; it would be if there were unblocked windows on both sides of the building. You break one, maneuver around the crap in the center and break another.

The only problem was the building only had windows on the front and back of the building (since it had been walled in by to larger brick buildings not many people wanted the view from the office/cubical row to be a brick wall so the original planning made since) and neither of those two sides were facing the group.

But it seemed like luck was still running on their side because in the center of the road (or where it used to be) was a hole where the mortar on the bricks had given way and an opening had formed. Calcifur and Mitchel had produced military issue glow sticks from one of the smaller duffel bags they had brought with them, and threw them into the opening.

The glow sticks slid several feet once they hit the ground on the other side. From the light of the glow sticks they could make out a plaster caste wall that was somehow still standing.

"It must have been a hallway; there are probably cubicles on the other side of that wall, or at least they were," Mitchel explained. Faith trusted his judgment; he had been an army officer prior to his "commission" to the prophet's body guards. He still acted like a solider and still could think like one. If anyone could navigate them through the building it would be him. "Shall we venture in?"

Alchenam looked to Jeep, and Jeep looked to Faith who nodded her approval before motioning for him to go first. Mitchel smiled and reached into the bag. He pulled out a hand full of the sticks and cracked them. He then pulled several strands of string from the bag as well and tied one around each person's waist.

"Only look down at them if you desperately need to see where you're going, elsewise look at the ground several paces in front of you and don't look directly into the glow stick, it will kill your night vision and without it you're blind. I'll throw a glow stick down every couple of feet follow them and the person in front of you. And stay behind me," With that Mitchel stepped into the building followed by Jeep, then Soterios, Faith and Alchenam with Calcifur in the rear.

They traveled through a series of lefts and rights until Faith was sure she would never be able to retrace the path, had it not been for the glow sticks. As they ventured further and further in to the depths of the building Faith was reminded of a story from Greek mythology, about a boy in a maze. She couldn't remember all of it, something to do with glowing string to find his way back out and a creature waiting for him as well. As they turned the corner Mitchel stopped and sighed. They were faced with three paths again. The hall ended in three doors, all turned sideways. Normally the answer to the riddle was gained because the other two doors were either stuck shut from all of the stuff behind it or they were locked.

This time two of the doors opened. The first one led to a staircase, the only way to get through was to crawl under the railing. The ceiling had caved and everything had fallen. Mitchel backed up and turned to the group, "We're not going that way unless the other doors don't open." He tried the other door and it moved half an inch before striking something metal. The group let out a collective sigh of disappointment. He pulled the other door and it swung in towards them.

The room beyond was dark, but open. Mitchel scattered a total of twelve glow sticks around the room. Something seemed wrong, very wrong. As they entered the room Faith was struck again by the comparison of this to the maze. Something was in here, something big, "Guys we should get…" But before she could finish something creaked across the room.

All of them stopped. Jeep reached for Soterios' hand and pulled him close. Calcifur, Mitchel, Alchenam and Faith all circled around them. The room was to open, it might have one point been a main lobby, high ceilings, ledges, ramps, stairs all of it was covered in shadow. All around them the shadows seemed to move, they were seeing things everywhere and this was exactly what Faith was trying to avoid.

Mitchel cracked one of the glow sticks and threw it up onto the upper level. When it came to a stop Faith's heart stopped. Sitting on the ledge was a large animal, or at least it could have been, she really didn't have a chance to look at it because seconds after the light hit it, it roared. The cry filled the room and drowned out Soterios' whimper of fear and Alchenam's cry to run. From the whole front half of the room poured swarms of possessed. Faith grabbed Soterios and ran for the door they had just come through.

She knew by instinct that the others were following her. Ducking under the door she quickly pulled the other door open and shoved Soterios inside. "Go start moving!" Faith yelled. She turned and began to fire on the possessed that had slipped out in front of the others. In the chaos Jeep and Alchenam slipped through but the creature slammed into the door and it began to cave in. "Move, move, move!"

She could hear the screams of Mitchel and Calcifur as the creature ripped them to pieces. Shortly thereafter it let out a scream as it changed shape. Faith looked behind her; the others had climbed in and were ready to cover her from the other side as best as possible. The door was ripped off the hinges and she was unable to get a good look at it before she shot it and dove for the door.

She landed on her back and began to crawl backwards firing all the while, only this time she was aiming at the supports for the wall. It caved seconds before the mutant could reach it. Slowly she got to her feet and looked at the other two. "We have to keep moving. The door will only hold them for a few minutes maybe a half-an-hour.

They had been so close. If Mitchel had actually followed his initial instinct to go through this door they would have all gotten out okay. After the climb around the stairs it was a matter of following a short hallway to an emergency exit door, and if that didn't open a window above it that showed a clear path.

"What the hell was that thing?" Jeep yelled once they had secured the door to the stairs. He held Soterios in his arms, the boy was in shock. Alchenam was leaning up against the wall shaking his head and talking in a language not of this world. Faith sat on the floor, knees curled up to her chest and head hanging. She hadn't know the two men for very long but she felt there loss none the less.

She looked up at Jeep and sighed, "A stronger, faster hunter. Exactly what I was talking about this morning,"

"That thing was huge, no way in hell did that start off as a human, no way! It, it had to be a…a demon or something. That can't have been one of us," Jeep said. His voice was losing power as he spoke. Faith could tell by the way he was looking around the room (everywhere but at her) that he realized that what she had said this morning was true. And this had only been one of three buildings.

Faith stood up and walked over to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a small reassuring smile, one he hadn't seen since Paradise Falls, telling him that everything was going to be okay. He went to speak when something moved outside, and by the looks of it through the window, multiple something's.

I Will Shut the World Away

Michael moved to the building first. His steps made louder by the crunch of broken glass of the splintering of wood under his feet. But he was not the one to attack first. He stopped a few feet short of the door and let Gabriel advance before him, as a mace is far more useful in the art of beating down doors then a sword. Gabriel let out a battle cry as he swung the mace to bring it crashing down, in an attempt to splinter the wood. Shouts could be heard from the other side but neither of the brothers paid any attention to what they were saying, possessed mumbled and groaned out what sounded like words to throw their attackers off some times. But when Gabriel's mace came down the thing he saw on the other side of the door was not at all what he was expecting.

Jeep walked slowly to the door, in the window he could see the things outside getting closer, and they were moving pretty fast too. "Get behind me," he whispered advancing towards the door slowly and cautiously, while pulling a smaller hand gun from the holster on his belt. Something seemed off to Faith as he moved closer to the door. She couldn't explain it but it just did. Jeep was reaching for the door knob when she heard a battle cry. And she knew who it was on the other side of the door.

"No, Jeep," She yelled as she ran forward. She pulled him away from the door just before it was broken to pieces. Before them stood Michael and Gabriel, well he was crouching more than standing at this point but…, and they looked just a puzzled to see the four of them as they were to see the two of them. Thankfully Jeep was able to break the awkward silence for them.

"What is it with you and smashing things first, asking questions later?" He was nearly screaming as he detangled himself from Faith's grasp and got to his feet. Gabriel shrugged and smiled, Jeep was pissed but in spite of it all he wrapped his arms around the angel and hugged him. "What the hell took you two so long?"

It broke the ice in a heartbeat. The other three had climbed out and began to rejoice at the apparent godsend, literally, that it was for the two to have shown up when they did. Michael had grabbed hold of Faith when he had a chance and didn't want to let go. He had been unable to see her for long extended periods of time during the past thirteen years and now he was trying to make up for lost time. After the extended hug he left one arm wrapped around her shoulder as the others talked. It was the only reason he felt, or even noticed, the shudder that raced through her.

"Faith, what's wrong?" he asked looking down at her. She was looking quickly between a watch and the sky. Something was wrong.

"We can't have lost that much time in that place, no it's only been two hours, but this shouldn't be happening something is wrong, what's going on?" she muttered to herself. Michael looked up at the sky as well. His eyes grew wide as he realized just how dark it was getting. The sunlight was fading fast. A storm was blowing in and it was as dark as night. "We have to find shelter away from this place."

They were hidden away in an old brick shop, probably a small mom and pop store, by the time the sky had opened up. There was a large front window that the glass had been knocked out of; the rest of the shop was blocked from its view by the counter that the cash register once was on. Behind the counter Jeep, Alchenam, Soterios and Gabriel sat round a small fire. It was to keep Hell Birds away and it also kept the old place warm and cozy.

Out front, sitting on either side of the window was Michael ad Faith. Faith had been the one to suggest that she keep watch, and Michael had insisted on sitting with her. Both sat, looking out the window in a comfortable silence. But Faith soon caught herself glancing over at Michael and then looking back out the window. Her mind was not at all where it should have been. And one thought kept bugging her. One question she really needed to ask him. She looked over to the counter where she could hear the faint conversation of her brother telling Soterios one of his old war stories.

Content that they wouldn't hear her she asked, "Michael?" she got a small grunt in response. She paused and waited for him to look at her, which he did thoughtfully when he realized she was not asking him anything. "Why did you never say anything before that night at the diner? You obviously knew who I was, probably did the second I singled myself out after you go out of the car. Why did you wait?"

"I wasn't sure, you were so different, and three years on earth will do that to anyone,"

"So you waited for me to talk, to say something," Faith shook her head and snorted, she exhaled sharply and then chuckled under her breath, only seconds later she covered her mouth with her hand and sobbed quietly. "We're not making it out of here you know that right? All you and Gabriel are doing is adding to the body count."

"Faith what do you mean, you have me and Gabriel and Alch…"

"Alchenam broke his contract with the prophets the second he walked out of that camp and the prophets left earth. Right now he's as good to us as a mortal. Jeep is just that, a mortal, he may be devoted to protect the child that he raised as a son but in the end he can still be killed. Soterios, though he may be the son of god or the next god or the present one is just a thirteen year old boy. He has no idea how to use any of his powers and has never fired a weapon outside of a virtual one."

"Yes but you can protect him, you're a guardian angel you…what?"

"I was taken away from him. Uriel is plotting to get rid of me and the rest of the human race. I have no power to protect him."

"You're still an angel, which makes three of us."

"I'm not though. I can't even summon my wings because I was an idiot and jumped from heaven with my brother without taking necessary precautions. The short and long of it is Michael that I am technically mortal as well, the only thing saving me right now is Raphael, and should father convince him otherwise or he is killed, I'm dead. So in reality it's just you and Gabriel keeping us alive, and by the looks of things…I hate to say it but that's not going to be enough."

Michael watched her as she studied the area. The rain was stopping, the sky clearing, but the place seemed changed. There was a vibe in the air that was not there before. It spoke of malice and death, to anyone who ventured to close. Michael knew what it as, he had felt it once before. It had been seconds before Samael had called his soldiers to arms against their father. Seconds before he had raised his hand, the signal for his men, Michael could taste the betrayal in the air.

This was not the same flavor. The call was not for the same reason; he knew this, because Faith had told him the reason. She knew, and had known, that this day was coming, and if she knew then He knew. But He had done nothing to stop them, why was there no enemy descending upon them as they sat here. It was unlike anything he had ever felt and yet very similar to every other time. Faith was okay with what was going to happen, Death was inescapable to a mortal, but angels did not die. So what did she know that he did not? Where was the attack she knew was coming? When would they strike and take her away? He didn't have the answer and if he had been listening closer to her words he would realize that she didn't either. It was all a part of one large game of waiting and there was no way for him to win.

They moved when the rain stopped. The path to the tower was empty. Michael was nowhere near at ease. It was the calm before the storm, and he was not prepared at all. Everything seemed dead. The trek into the building was fine, Faith's plan for stairs and elevators worked brilliantly. There was just one problem that none of them had considered. How to get over to the other building? Truthfully it had been an excepted fact that if a building was leaning against another they touched at some point. Problem was the floor where they met had given way over the course of thirteen years.

"So we jump," Jeep said looking out over the side, his shirt was being whipped around by the wind at this height and he slowly edged back. They had thrown a handful of rocks and lose stone at the window across the way, which was broken open so the crossing was all that was left. Michael and Gabriel still had wings, they could fly over but it was not safe to make that many short trips, too much attention would be drawn. Soterios would never be able to make the jump though. So it was decided that Gabriel would fly over with the boy. When they landed Jeep would jump across, and if need be Gabriel could catch him, at this Jeep was not thrilled. Alchenam would jump and then Faith. Michael would stay until last. This was in case of a worst case scenario in which the possessed were to arrive, the side with no angel might become overrun and then they would be out that many people, not good.

So Gabriel picked Soterios up and flew across. They landed with no problem at all. Once Gabriel had set Soterios down he motioned for Jeep to jump. Jeep jumped across but seconds after he landed something flew across the gap. Hell Birds, a small flock passed by. And they defiantly had seen them. Before his jump, Alchenam poked his head out and looked for the birds. When he didn't see them he readied to leap across. Mid-flight they came back again. The birds didn't even hesitate; they shot right at him and as a collective group grabbed him and carried him off.

Faith was not sure if he had called out for help at all because all she could hear was Soterios screaming. He was clinging to Gabriel's leg, begging her to not jump, he could tell that they would be back and they would be coming for her next. Faith assured him that she wasn't going to jump, that Michael would fly her over, to this Michael firmly agreed. But something seemed off in her words and again Michael tasted the betrayal. He lunged for Faith's arm seconds to late. She took off at a dead run for the gap. Soterios was yelling for her to stop. Pleading, begging, crying, but none of it seemed to matter; none of it slowed her down. She jumped, she was clear; there was no sound of the birds, there wouldn't be because they hadn't finished fighting over the remains of Alchenam. But something collided with her side, something moving ungodly fast.

That something had black wings.

That something was as tall as Gabriel.

That something was as dark as a starless night.

That something had white tattoos covering its face.

That something carried a Scythe with them.

That something was really a someone named Azreal, the archangel of death.

Michael reacted faster than he had ever thought possible and had leapt from the opening and had begun the chase before his mind had even registered that it was his brother carrying Faith and not a Hell Bird. Azreal was attempting to lose him in the maze of buildings but Michael would not be shaken. He was not going to lose her. Upwards they climbed; Michael was gaining on them but his window was closing fast. He was in arms reach of Faith's extended hand, just one more beat of his wings and he could grab her. But something stopped him. He had slammed into a barrier.

"No!" he yelled slamming his fist against the wall that stood in his way. He watched as the two vanished from view in a binding light, helpless to save her. It was now just the four of them. She as gone and Michael had finally lost faith.

I Will Not Fall

Faith screamed as Azreal flew ever closer to Heaven. She beat against his back, pulled at his feathers, cursed him with every known name, in ever known language, and some not so known, under the sun. None of this affected the angel in the least. She fought with him as they flew through the halls of Heaven and was still shouting curses as he threw her to the ground in God's throne room. It was only then that she was silenced.

She looked up in shock at her father sitting upon his throne. Uriel on his left, Raphael in Michael's position on his right. Azreal stood above her ready to carry out the Lord's sentencing the second he commanded it. This was how it would all end. This was how she died.

"Faith, welcome home," God said. His words seemed to carry around the room on inhuman level. He leaned forward slightly and studied her. Seemingly satisfied with what he saw, he relaxed again. He knew that she knew she was beaten. The question was how long would she drag this out for?

"You are being condemned to death, or life in purgatory, however you with to survey it, because of your attempted upheaval of my reign as God. You and your brothers, Michael and Gabriel, have deliberately set out to replace me with this Soterios, in hope that you could extend the suffering of the human race, a subject I have already taken up with Michael, and my stance on the matter is final. Regardless you have not only gone against my wishes but you have plotted with Samael to take over until the boy is of age."

"I haven't…"

"Silence!" the room shock with the force of his voice. You dare to lie to me, I know every last inch of your heart and know your mind better than even you do. But if you still require a test to prove my power, well then so be it." As he spoke Faith collapsed to the ground in pain, it felt as if nails were being driven into her skull.

"Look," God ordered and she did so. In the center of the room stood a life sized image of her, she could barely make out the background as another wave of pain raced through her mind. He was pulling the memories of her dream from her very head and projecting them from the whole room to see. A gasp rose from Raphael as Samael appeared.

God cut the image and Faith gasped for breath. She brought her hands up to her head and cradled it, until Azreal reached down and dragged her back to her knees at his feet.

"Now," God said dismissively, as he cast away the image in the middle of the room. "The threat of Samael has been dealt with and he and his sins have been sent back to Hell where they belong only you remain. But now you shall be taken care of and Michael and Gabriel will be left to rot on Earth as was there choosing." As he spoke Azreal removed his scythe from his back and backed up to bring it round her neck. He would behead her in one swing and she had been content to let him, until her brother and lover had been brought into this.

"No," she whispered under her breath. "They will not!"

She felt more then heard Azreal draw back to swing and just before he brought the scythe forward, she stood. Instead of catching her in the throat the scythe gashed her side, but she danced away running on adrenaline as she turned to face Azreal. The angel smiled and twirled his scythe. Very rarely did a victim put up a fight against him, and he so loved a challenge. Faith pulled one of the celestial knives from her belt and got into a fighting stance. Azreal made the first move and charged.

I Will Not Fade

When Michael landed inside the building he found himself in a small war zone. It seemed that everything was waiting on Faith to be taken from Earth before happening. Gabriel and Jeep had already been carving a path through, still attempting to get to the upper floors. But they were fighting a losing battle. Every possessed they cut down another three or four stepped into their place. Jeep was running out of bullets fast, and he didn't have another gun. Michael fought to his side in a short amount of time. But even with him there, there seemed to be nothing they could do.

The door was right there. They were so close. Once in the stair case they could run for the roof and were home free. Gabriel had grabbed the door knob and had pushed Soterios inside before fallowing him as protection. But as with every other fleeting second of hope that day, someone was about to die. From the far side of the room a mutant advanced. This one seemed to have the uncanny ability to extend its arms to reach for prey and drag them across the room, as it had been doing the entirety of the fight. Lucky for them it kept grabbing one of the possessed. But no the horde had moved, allowing for it to have a clean shot.

Michael saw this and grabbed Jeeps arm, and threw him into the stair way. He followed shortly after, but the creature had gotten a grip on his leg and began to drag him back. Michael turned as he fell, landing on his back and grabbing the gun he had tied around his waist he fired. He knew he was as good as dead, but he was going to try to take this ugly son of a bitch down with him. He felt his sword get ripped out of his hand as he was pulled along, that didn't matter though, and all that did was his shooting.

Something shot passed him on the right hand side and it took a few seconds for him to realize that it was the other hand; he stopped firing and looked behind him as best he could. The creature had caught another target in his grasp. Jeep.

Michael struggled to release himself and when that didn't work her focused on shooting the creature, this time he was actually aiming. An anguished cry from in front of him told him he'd hit the target, and if that hadn't the slackened grip would have. He got up and ran firing leftover rounds at possessed in his way. Jeep hadn't been so luck and before Michael could even reach him, he had been dragged off by another mutant. Michael began to fight his way to him, punching and kicking at this point, before someone grabbed him from behind.

His arms locked to his side, Michael tried to break away, but two words spoken to him in the heavenly tongue caused him to stop. "It's enough," Gabriel whispered as he pulled his brother into the stair well. When the door was shut Gabriel let him go, and he collapsed to the ground. Through his tears he could see Soterios pounding on the door screaming for Jeep. But something was wrong. His once white t-shirt was covered in specks of blood, but that wasn't the problem it was actually to be expected considering what he had just been through, it was the fact that one spot in particular was growing every time he move.

With each passing second the boys pounds grew weaker and his voice grew softer, but it was not because of exhaustion or anguish. It was because he was dying.

I Will Take Your Breath Away

Faith spun, dodging Azreal's blow and successfully landing one of her own. He stumbled back several steps, a large gash running across his stomach. Faith stood back up and faced him. His face was covered in a shocked expression, she was calm.

He lifted his scythe to strike again. Instead he fell to the ground dead. The room filled with silence. Faith was visibly shaking she was crying so hard. She looked up at God, hoping against hope that he would call of the rest of his sons, her brothers, but he was unaffected. A war cry filled the room that would have sent chills running down the back of any mortal.

Uriel, who had been sitting on Gods left, had taken to the air, his bow drawn, ready to cut down the traitor. Faith dove and rolled once she hit the ground just as the spot she had been prior had burst into flames. She had enough time to look up at Uriel to see that he was firing another shot before he did so.

She dodged again only this time when she came to a stop she grabbed the celestial knife off of her belt and spun. When she was facing Uriel she threw it blindly up at him. She heard the twinge of the bow as another arrow was sent her way, and she feared that she had missed completely. But as she maneuvered out of the way she heard the distinct sound of a body falling accompany the crackle of the flames. Tears were streaming down her face as she noted a second brother killed by her hand.

A shadow fell over her and she looked up. Raphael stood looking down on her, not carrying a spear or a weapon of any sort. She knew he would be the hardest for her to kill. He extended a hand to help her to her feet; he was smiling as he did so. Faith took it and pulled herself up. But when she finally stood at eye level with him, or as close as she could get, Raphael let out a gasp of pain. His form slumped onto her left shoulder and she shrugged him off trying to let her sorrow stop her from continuing. He hit the ground, her second celestial knife buried to the hilt in his heart.

Faith looked up to God. He was not shocked or appalled or devastated by the loss of three of his five sons. He stood and began to walk towards Faith, she did the same. But she stopped. "I should have known you would be the only one out of all of them to survive, you always were so much like your brother, determined and head strong," God said stepping closer. Faith's breath was still coming in ragged pants and something was slowly making its way down her nose and to her lips. She reached fingers up and felt it, when she pulled them back they were red. She was bleeding. "Did you really think you would survive this? Faith you know as well as I that no mortal can stand in Heaven, breath its air, feel its freedom, taste its power without being killed by it."

Faith knew that by this point not only was her nose bleeding but her ears and eyes were, as if she was crying blood, as well. The wound on her side from Azreal was gushing blood again. God extended his arms to her, almost as if welcoming her back. She advanced forward and collapsed to the ground, coughing up blood several times before being able to breathe again. He stood over her, but she did not look up. The pain was too great and the world was spinning, she didn't have much time left.

"The only thing that was saving you before was Raphael, and now he's dead. So you're just another foolish mortal about to be poisoned to death by heaven. Pity isn't it? That something so sought after and beautiful kills so easily," He said calmly, his voice filling the room. "So you will die and your soul will go to Hell. But after what you've done it's only what you deserve."

"Do you think it's over yet?" Gabriel asked. His back was to the door and it was the only thing stopping the possessed from entering the room. They had been so close; they were only three floors down.

Michael looked up from the boy cradled in his lap, "I hope so." He had whispered it, as if Soterios could still hear him. "He's not going to last much longer." As if called Soterios blinked back the darkness he had fallen into. He was cold and scared, they were all gone, all but Michael and Gabriel, and he knew he was going to be leaving them soon to.

"Is what over?" he asked, his voice was quiet and weak from the strain his body was under to even utter those words.

"The end of God," Michael replied. He saw the question in the boy's eyes and continued. "If all faith in God is destroyed, and if the embodiment of that faith is gone, if no one believes in him he will fade into nothingness."

"H-how?"

"He will do it himself, he already is," Michael replied his eyes were shinning with tears as he spoke. "If Faith, your guardian angel dies…"

"…then you will die with me,"

God looked down on Faith and finally understood. All that Michael had been trying to tell him for years, everything all made since. His time was over. As was hers. Faith smiled and took one last breath, her eyes widened as her heart seized up. She could taste the poison and she closed her eyes, she wasn't going to fight it anymore, and she let go. She fell backwards, dead long before she hit the floor. And Heaven faded into nothingness.

It was at that exact second that Soterios took his last breath as a mortal on earth.

FIN

**AN: This was really never supposed to have a happy ending so. But I felt bad after looking at that end for a while and decided that the story might just need a little bit more to go along with it. Something that didn't make Michael's sacrifices for mankind useless and gave just a little bit more closure. The above text truly is the end of I Will Not Bow, a ungodly long songfic that shows that one's Faith in something is the only thing keeping them from crossing the wrong line, or something like that, truthfully I thought the song went pretty well with Michael the rebellious son and his not really caring what happened to him. Anyway below is a look at what could (not necessarily what did or does) take place after the fic is over. A far happier note then the one we just ended on and one that kept me from crying as I wrote this. **

One Year Later: 

The loud and continuous sound of a large rubber ball hitting pavement broke the silence on the hill. It was shortly followed by the shouts of "pass it here" or "I'm open, I'm open" from the children down on the court. Ten months, it really had been that long since the last of the possessed had faded away and civilization had gone back to normal for the most part.

"Five months' worth of study and I still have no idea how to play this game," Gabriel's voice joined the sounds filling the air. Michael lay curled up in a ball by Gabriel's side, under a large apple tree. It over looked the basketball court and also provided shade. Michael opened his eyes, realizing that taking a nap now was never going to happen. He sighed and sat up.

Slowly he ran his figures through his now shoulder length blond hair and watched the kids play before beginning to explain, "One kid starts out with the ball, bounces it all the way down to the opposing teams basket without stopping if he does then he has to pass. If not then he can take a shot. You make a basket you get a point and the ball goes to the other team, if not then the other team has a chance to recover and score on the other sides basket. It continues until one of the teams reaches the preapproved score first."

"You know Michael you have a very bad tendency to simplify too much," a voice said from behind them. Michael jumped and turned around to see a figure leaning against the tree trunk. They had long black hair that reached to mid back if it was allowed to flow free, were wearing a long sleeved black shirt and pants, it also looked like they wore light battle armor. To top it off the figure, who they could now tell was a woman, looked up and had the brightest pair of blue eyes that either man had ever seen. But none of this was the most intriguing quality of the woman. No that had to be the pair of jet-black wings sprouting from her back and hovering around her figure as if for protection.

"Faith," both brothers whispered, neither of them wished to be the one to break the calm and find that it was not the person, or angel, they thought it to be. The girl smiled and sat down between the two. With no further warning she hooked her arms around their necks and pulled them into one armed hugs, as she did this her wings wrapped around them to complete the circuit.

"How are you still…?" Gabriel started but stopped, again afraid of the answer.

"Soterios, he made me the general of his armies," Faith answered very matter of factly. She puffed up her chest as if the title gave her a new level of importance. She looked at the two's expression and laughed. "He had to pick five new archangels, and you two bone-heads seemed to be ignoring him so he picked the only other five people between heaven and hell, and purgatory in one case, to fill the spots. To put it into perspective; I'm Michael, Jeep is Gabriel, Bob is Azreal, Percy is Raphael, and Charlie is Uriel. General, Guardian, Judge, Healer, and Fighter."

"So he made it, everything worked out in the end?" Michael asked. He was about to begin to laugh triumphantly when he realized one key piece. "Why are you here then?"

"I'm here for you two. Soterios said something about making two new archangel positions to get the two of you back with the rest of the family." Faith said leaning back and lying in the grass. Her wings fell limp on their shoulders, felling like a soft blanket. "So…what do you say?"

"Is that supposed to be a trick question?" Gabriel asked, he was smirking at the thought of being back home, or at least something close to home, he really couldn't understand mortals at all.

"Then let's get going," Faith said. She leapt to her feet and began pulling the other two along with her. Once they were out from under the trees branches she kicked off and propelled herself into the air, with no warning sent to the others, who were clinging to her for dear life, and began to fly up. Only to be incased in light seconds later.


End file.
